Father and Son
by AnyS
Summary: After the death of his wife King Thranduil struggles to show his little son how much he loves him.
1. Father and Son Chapter 1

**Title: **Father and Son

**Rating: **PG-13 for a bit of angst and inner turmoil on Thranduil's side.

**Disclaimer: **I do not own the Lord of the Rings or any character you will recognize here. They belong entirely to Mr. Tolkien. No profit is made of this, it is purely for my own enjoyment. I only own the plot bunny that bit me for this story. *ouch* ;)

**Summary: **After the death of his wife King Thranduil struggles to show his little son how much he loves him.

**Beta:** Beta? What beta? Volunteer, any one? **Update: **YIPPIE! I've found a beta! Thank you, Akedhi! Your help is very much appreciated! J

**A/N: **I'm no expert on LOTR so if the story- or timeline doesn't fit to Tolkien's work or you think Master Tolkien would turn in his tomb if he'd read this, I'm sorry, please forgive me! 

As Tolkien hasn't given us a concrete date of birth for Legolas I am not sure if the timeline I've chosen for this story is correct. After a lot of research I believe Legolas is younger than most people seem to think. I definitely don't agree to Peter Jackson's suggestion that Legolas is more than 2000 years old when he joins the fellowship. From what I have read I assume he is only around 600 years old when he joins Frodo on his quest. Therefore he must have been born sometime around the end of The Watchful Peace, which is the time this story takes place. So, in this story Legolas is five years old in human standards. I'm not sure how old he would be in elven standards, probably 11 or 12 years I think.

As Tolkien didn't give us any information about Legolas' mother or any siblings, either, there's much space for speculations. Thank God, hehe :). For this story I've chosen Legolas to be an only child and I decided that his mother was killed by orcs when he was very young. I know it's cruel, but please, don't blame or flame me! It's completely the plot bunny's fault! I'd also like to add that I probably will not keep that set-up should I ever decide to write a further fanfic. It all depends on the plot bunnies… ;)

This is my first fanfic ever and English is not my native language so please be, uhm, lenient and gentle… No flaming, please, I'm afraid of fire! ;) Moderate reviews are very welcome!

**A/N part 2:** I'd like to add that one of my reviewers (*waves at Karri* J), pointed out to me that Elves would never beat their children even not as disciplinary action in case of disobedient behaviour - no matter how important or serious the situation might be. I like to explain that before I wrote this story I had stumbled across a piece of information or better said a story that mentioned the Eldars' custom of 'being sent with a stick in your hand to the aunts and uncles' – which means: if an elfling broke a so called 'stated rule' (= very important rule, mostly safety prohibition) the penalty for that would be a beating which would be executed not by the parents of the disobedient child but by close relatives such as an aunt or an uncle. I first thought that this discipline of Elvish children was explained by Tolkien and so I incorporated it into my story. (Well, at least I tried to stick to canon! ;)) Then I learned that this is a story-telling device in "Elflocks – How Legolas Cured His Sister of Teasing" by Chathol-linn. I asked permission to use this idea. Although my idea and Chathol-linn's are not exactly the same, the author gave consent. Nonetheless I'd like to apologize to all Tolkien fans who took offence by the idea that Thranduil might discipline Legolas in such a way. As I've already said I originally thought the idea was based on Tolkien's work. I'm sure you understand that I won't re-write the whole story now though. My plot bunny says I can't! ;) 

Karri also mentioned that she doubted Legolas' walk/run from the archery ground back to the palace to be a safety issue. And even though I can see why she and maybe others think so I'd like to explain that in my imagination the archery training ground is not exactly around the corner of Thranduil's palace. I think wood elves would always use a natural clearing or something like that for a training field instead of violently cutting down trees in order to artificially set it up right next to the palace. And for this story the clearing happens to be a bit away from the palace (at least a 1 hour walk or so away, my plot bunny informs me ;)) so even though walking the way alone might not be the most dangerous thing in the world it surely isn't the safest thing, either – at least not for a small elfling and at least not in my story, hehe… J

**Explanations/Translations:**

Thoughts are in _Italics_. 

mellon nin – my friend

ion nin – my son

adar / ada – father / dad/daddy

naneth / nana – mother / mom/mommy

Arda – The World 

Ilúvatar – Godhead

Valar – name of fourteen powerful spirits (sort of Godheads)

Elbereth – Sort of Goddess, queen of the stars who set the stars in the sky

**Chapter 1**

King Thranduil of Mirkwood stood, staring outside the window onto the large, green trees in the courtyard of his palace, but he saw nothing. He was lost in a memory of his beloved but now dead wife, queen not only of his realm, but also of his heart and soul. How much had she loved these trees, spending hot summer afternoons sitting in their cool shadows, playing with their only child. He could still hear her angelic laughter and the happy giggles of his son. How he missed that sound! He closed his eyes, violently tearing himself away from this painful memory, sighed, turned around and sat down again.

Lord Elrond from Rivendell and Mithrandir - or Gandalf the Grey as some would know the wizard as - watched him intently but neither said a word. The three of them and nine of the royal counsellors sat in King Thranduil's large conference room and had just heard reports about several orc attacks at the east-southern borders of Mirkwood, once known as Greenwood the Great. The southern region of the once beautiful and peaceful woods had finally faded into the shadow that had fallen upon the royal forest over thousand years ago. Darkness crept further and further into the realm. Another three of Thranduil's hunting parties had been attacked and slain only a few days ago, the fifth attack in only two weeks! He sighed again, feeling the weight of all Arda on his still proud shoulders.

"My friend, we still do not know exactly who your foe is, what force sends the orcs and wargs upon your realm. There is still hope it is not as bad as you might think." Lord Elrond offered in the most comforting voice he could pull up, but even he didn't believe what he had said. 

Thranduil turned to him, looking first angry, then suddenly both sad and grateful. The Lord from Rivendell and the king were not always on good terms, but in dark times such as these they could rely on each other, both knew. Elrond had been there for Thranduil like a brother when his wife had been killed almost one year ago. Elrond had arranged everything for the funeral ceremony and had supported the king's advisors when Thranduil had felt too weak and too depressed to fulfil his royal duties. But most of all Elrond had been taking care of the king's son, Legolas. 

The child had been rescued when his mother's and his party had been attacked by a large orc band on a feignedly safe trip through the woods. Three Mirkwood warriors had sacrificed their immortal lives to save that of the prince, who by human standards was four years old at that time. Physically Legolas even had not received so much as a scratch, but the trauma he had suffered was deep and had almost killed him. Lord Elrond had done all he could to save him, but only with the help from Mithrandir had he finally been able to bring the small being out of his mental darkness back to the light. It seemed Mithrandir was way too fascinating and funny for Legolas to stay hidden in his bed, doing nothing except for staring at the ceiling or staring out of the window with wide yet blind eyes. Still, Legolas had not eaten much during that time and finding sleep had been a hard task for him as well. Only the presence of his father had seemed to make Legolas feel safe enough to do so. After four months the child had almost been back to normal, so Elrond and Gandalf had finally left, and even though Legolas had been very upset he had taken their departure with much bravery. Nonetheless they had to promise him to come back as soon as possible. 

Thranduil smiled slightly at the memory of his small son running swiftly after the two riders down to the palace's great gate, waving them good-bye until he could not see them anymore. 

Elrond shot him a questioning look. Thranduil's smile faded away and was replaced by his usual stern gaze.

"Mellon nin, I know you did not mean to, but do not mistake me for a fool for I am afraid all of us know just too well who our foe is. And he is as evil as ever", he said, his usual strong, booming voice now low and concerned. The king felt exhausted. He felt the end of the Watchful Peace was near and the dark ruler from the south was about to send Mirkwood and maybe even whole Middle Earth into doom. Oh, and he was so tired. Just like Legolas he had not slept well since his wife's death. He missed her so badly, especially at night, lying lonely in his now far too large bed. But he was not only tired due to lack of sleep. He also was tired of being a king in times of war. He was tired of facing a yet unseen enemy every day and seeing no end to the battle. He closed his eyes for a brief moment and inhaled deeply. 

But as if even that was not something he was allowed to enjoy in some sort of silent peace, an impatient little knock on the room's door echoed painfully in his head. Without waiting for an answer from the inside the door opened a crack and someone slipped through it into the room. Someone so small, the king and his two companions, Elrond to his left and Mithrandir to his right, could not see him or her from their point of view. But Thranduil knew the little swift footsteps heading towards his end of the large table all too well.

Before Gandalf could even make out who had just entered the room, the person in question was climbing up on his lap and hugging him tightly. 

"Uncle Dir!" The little elfling exclaimed, overjoyed, kissing Gandalf eagerly and wetly on the cheek, stunning the old wizard to no ends. Gandalf smiled all over his face as he recognized Legolas and kissed the little elfling back. He felt himself even blush a little. He was not used to being hugged and kissed by elflings. They always seemed to be a bit afraid of him. But this one here, Gandalf knew from the day of Legolas' birth, was different. And they had become close friends as far as an old wizard and a young elfling could become friends, that is.

"Ah, haha, now, what kind of intruder do we have here, hm?" He tickled Legolas a bit, making him giggle and almost falling off his lap.

Thranduil sighed once again and rose.

"Legolas Greenleaf Thranduilion, Prince of Mirkwood!" His booming voice echoed in the large room. And Legolas knew he was in trouble.

"Ada, please, just would see Uncle Dir…?" He explained, with a small voice, anxiously looking to the left side where his father stood tall above him. That anxious look on his little face changed rapidly as he caught sight of Lord Elrond, whom he had not noticed before.

"Uncle Rond!" He exclaimed, swiftly climbing over the chair of his stunned father onto Elrond's lap. He embraced the Lord from Rivendell and kissed him no less eagerly, too. The elfling's warm-heartedness and his innocent enthusiasm were so overwhelming that even Thranduil could not suppress a little smile.

"Hello my little wood elfling!" Lord Elrond said, hugging Legolas tightly. Oh, he just loved this child – almost as much as if he was his own flesh and blood. "How do you fare these days, little heart?" he asked, but Legolas got no chance to answer since his father had already regained his former seriousness and was pulling him up onto his arms and leaving the room quickly.

"My Lords, if you may excuse me for a minute." He said sternly, but actually no one understood what was wrong. The first time for this day they all had a reason to smile, and now that reason was practically thrown out of the room. The only one not looking somewhat shocked was the intruder himself. He knew his king, his father, he had known what would happen, if he would interrupt the meeting but still he had not could resist. He had been awaiting Mithrandir's visit far too long now to keep on waiting in his own chamber while the wizard was locked away in some stupid conference room. He even had not known Lord Elrond would be there, too, so the whole thing had paid off twice for him. Despite his clearly troubled situation he smiled and waved to Mithrandir and Elrond who both couldn't suppress a chuckle.

Then his father left the room and threw the door shot behind himself with a loud *BANG*.

The kind crouched down, sat his son back on the cold marble floor and rose again, standing tall over the elfling once more.

"Legolas Greenleaf Thranduilion…" He started and closed his eyes in order to control both his temper and tiredness.

"Ada, I'm sorry, don't be angry with me, please," the little elfling murmured in a small voice, looking down at the floor.

Thranduil sighed once more. _This is going to become a bad habit_, he thought, _I'm sighing all the time!_ He looked down on his small child.

"Legolas, I know you have waited a terrible long time for Mithrandir, and I know you are bored. And I know I have not had much time for you recently. But you must understand that it is my duty as a king and as your father to take care of certain matters. Do you understand? It is only for the good of everyone, for the good of all your friends and of yourself. You cannot walk in there just like that. It is not only that you have been disturbing an important meeting, worse than that it is no decent thing to do for a prince. You showed a great deal of impolite, childish behaviour. Never do that again! Am I making myself clear?" He said, with a strict voice.

Legolas only nodded, still staring at the floor. Thranduil's heart almost broke from the mere sight. This sweet little innocent being standing in front of him, trying to look brave while at the same time trying to avoid his glare from above was his son! His own flesh and blood! And he _was_ a child, by the Valar! So he was supposed to show childish behaviour, was he not? He surely was not supposed to look so awfully sad. 

Thranduil crouched down again, bringing himself on eye to eye level with Legolas. But the elfling did not dare to look at him. Gently taking that small face between his large strong hands he turned Legolas' head. Big blue sad eyes turned their gaze on him. _Ooh, just another crack in the heart._ The sadness in these lovely orbs was almost unbearable for him. He could bear anger or rage in them but not this sadness.

"Look, I am not angry with you anymore, alright? I just want you to help me, will you? You must, ion nin. I need you to be brave and a bit more grown up and patient. I promise to you, you can talk to Uncle Mithrandir and Uncle Elrond as soon as we have finished this meeting. You can have them all day long if they agree, but you must help me now, will you? Be a good boy, please, and wait until the meeting is over." His voice was soft now, and somehow he knew it would work better than being strict. Legolas never could say no to anyone asking for his help.

"Ada…?" The child started and then bit his lips, trying to fight back the tears already stinging in his eyes. He swallowed hard. Of course he wanted to have Uncle Mithrandir and Uncle Elrond all day long, but even more he wanted to have his father all day long. But he could not say it, it would not help his Ada, he knew. And he so much wanted to be a good boy for his Ada. 

Legolas took a deep breath and straighten his shoulders. 

"I help you, I promise." he announced, hugged his father briefly, then turned around and ran away.

Thranduil sighed again, tiredly rubbing his face with one hand. It hurt him to send Legolas away. Once again. He had done this too much in the last twelve months, he knew, and he also knew, his son ached for attention but he could not change it. His kingdom and his people were in danger and needed him more than his son. 

"I am so sorry, my little squirrel…" he murmured to himself, and with that he rose again and returned to the meeting.


	2. Father and Son Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: **See chapter 1, please. Basically it says I own nothing! :)****

**Father and Son - Chapter 2**

Legolas ran down the corridor, not knowing what to do now. He had so much hoped he could just stay there in his Ada's conference room. He wouldn't have disturbed anyone. Really! He just wanted to see Uncle Dir and be close to his Ada. But now that that was not an option anymore he had no idea how to spend the rest of the day. There were no other elflings in the palace these days and if he wanted to leave the palace to visit a friend he always had to ask his father first, as the king did not want him to leave the palace area without guards. He was not allowed to walk into the woods on his own, no matter how much he wanted to just spend some time sitting on a nearby branch, watching the birds and the bees and the exchanging of the guards at the great gate and well, just everything that would be going on beneath him. 

Now the only more enjoyable option left for him was heading towards the archery training ground - again. Just like yesterday and the day before yesterday and the day before… well, simply just like everyday. By now he was quite popular among the warriors and some of them sometimes even took the time to teach him one thing or another about archery. First he had felt a bit ridiculous with his toy bow, his toy arrows and his toy quiver, but the adults did not seem to mind. He was too young for proper lessons but nevertheless they liked talking to him, explaining the bows and the arrows they were working with, showing him how to manufacture them and patiently answering all his surprisingly intelligent questions. Some of them even allowed him to help repair bows and fletch arrows. He was a lovely clever little boy, eager to learn everything about archery and comprehending things amazingly fast, especially considering his age. So it was not only fun for him but for the warriors, too.

_Well then, archery training ground again!_ he thought and dashed into his sleeping chamber, grabbed his toy weapons and rushed outside, down to the great gate. There he waited. Sooner or later some warriors would come this way, and he was allowed to go with them to the archery training area – well, if they took him along, that is, of course. But so far no one he had asked had ever rejected him. He waited at the gate for a while, marching around the guards on duty, seriously humming an old war song much to the guards' amusement. Finally two warriors walked by, heading their way to the training area. Of course they took him along…

:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

"Sel, tell me, can you shoot the yellow leaf there on the top of that bush?" Legolas asked after watching all the happenings at the training area for quite a while. He turned his head to look at the archer, who actually was called Selmacas and was now practicing next to where he sat on the warm grass. The archer smiled at him. He knew Legolas for quite a while now since the boy was usually sitting in the sun next to Sel's favourite practice spot. 

"I am sure I could, my Prince."

"Then, you try?" Legolas asked excitedly, looking up, blinking at the older elf as the sun blinded him.

"Well, if you order me so, my Prince." He teased.

Legolas thought for a while. 

"Could _I_ order you?" He finally asked, unsure if his position as a prince allowed him to _'order'_ someone to do something. Actually he did not like the whole concept of ordering people, because he hated being ordered around a lot himself.

"Well, I think so, my Prince." The warrior smiled down on him warmly. This child was so sweet and incredible unassuming. By the Valar, his own son was more demanding than the prince! _How could you possibly not love him?_ he wondered.

Legolas locked eyes with him for a while, walked over to him, very close and lowly whispered, "Sel, shoot that bush! Please?" He smiled conspiringly up at the warrior, his eyes sparkling with mischief, forcing a big grin to appear on Sel's face.

"As your Highness wishes." the warrior whispered back, winked, took an arrow, but then froze, thinking.

"Why do you not try it yourself?" he asked, looking at the toy bow in Legolas' hand. Legolas' gaze dropped towards the ground, and suddenly he looked sad and ashamed.

"My prince?" The warrior kneeled down in front of him concerned. 

"I don't think I can. My bow's too small… I'm too small…" Legolas said looking up again shyly.

"Mhm, well, why do you not just try? I will help you if you do not mind?" The warrior took his small hand, now realizing how young and small Legolas really was. Gently he dragged the elfling some feet closer to their target. Still they were quite far away. Sel kneeled behind Legolas moving the short legs and the tiny shoulders into the right positions.

"Now notch an arrow." he said softly, watching Legolas movements intently. _Elbereth, the boy has already learnt a lot only by watching us!_ he thought.

"Can you see the leaf?" he whispered, not wanting to disturb the child's concentration. Softly he laid his large right hand on the small right shoulder in front of him and his left hand on Legolas' left hip in order to steady the elfling's stance.

"No… lost it…" Legolas replied, sounding somewhat desperate, and almost un-notched his arrow.

"No, don't." Sel stopped him with a soft voice. "Keep it notched. Now, take your time, look again, if you find your aim, just look at it and focus…" he advised, waiting patiently. He felt the looks of all the other warriors on his back. Legolas fortunately was already too focussed to notice it. That would be quite too much pressure on such young shoulders. 

"Oh, have it…" Legolas whispered excitedly.

"Well then, focus, you just see that leaf, nothing else matters now, got it?" 

"Yes." 

Both Sel and Legolas did not move an inch. 

"Alright, now find a point a bit above of it, so my hand could fill the space between it. Got one?" The warrior ordered after a while.

"Yes." 

"Now…" The archer checked the line of Legolas' arrow in relation to his target, moved his arms and shoulders a little to correct it slightly and felt the tension in Legolas' right arm.

"Try to draw the bow harder. Just a little bit."

Legolas pulled the string with all his power…

"Good. Now inhale."

Inhaling…

"Exhale."

Exhaling…

"Hold your breath."

Holding his breath… feeling his little heart beating madly in his chest…

"Fire!"

Letting the arrow fly…

The tiny toy arrow shot across the field, hitting its target hard, cutting the one single yellow leaf down only through the power of the blow.

And the warriors cheered as if Legolas had just shot the worst enemy they had ever faced. 

"Good! Very good!" Sel smiled proudly and clapped Legolas' back. The elfling turned around and hugged the warrior happily, grinning from one pointed ear to the other. Sel laughed. The elfling blushed as he realized that everyone has been watching him, but still in this very minute he was the happiest elfling in whole Arda. _If only __Ada__ could have seen me!_ he thought.

"I must tell Ada!" He exclaimed excitedly and dashed down the field to the bush, grabbed his toy arrow and then headed back towards the palace – without any guard or archer accompanying him.


	3. Father and Son Chapter 3

**Disclaimer: **See chapter 1, please! Basically it says I own nothing. :)

**Father and Son – Chapter 3**

When Legolas finally arrived at the great gate, he stopped, catching his breath. Then he rushed on, passing Mithrandir and Elrond and his father's counsellors in the great hall, ignoring them completely much to their surprise, desperately calling for his father. They all exchanged puzzled looks and decided it would probably better to follow the young one. Just in case.

"Ada!" He rushed through the corridors heading towards his father's chamber still calling for him excitedly. He tried to open the door to his father's bedroom but it was locked.

"Ada! Ada!" The door was never locked, why now? His Ada just must be in there!

"Ada!" He hardly could breath anymore.

"Prince Legolas, your Highness, what has happened?" One of the counsellors kneeled down next to him.

"I shot it!" he exclaimed excitedly.

"Shot what?"

"The bush… the… the leaf! Sel showed me!"

"Oh!" Of course the older elf did not understand what the prince was talking about.

"Ada!" Legolas called again, rattling at the door.

"Hush, little one, your father is taking a well-deserved rest. Come with me." He took Legolas' hand and tried to pull him away from the king's chamber.

"No, I must tell him." Legolas rattled at the door again with his free hand, but of course it was still locked.

"Ada!" He cried. He really wanted to talk to his father now!

"Stop this, Legolas. Your father needs to rest! Come on, Mithrandir and Lord Elrond are waiting for you. Let us go to them now." The counsellor shot Lord Elrond an apologetic look and tightened his grip on Legolas wrist to finally drag him away from the door. But the elfling jerked himself free.

"No, I want Ada!" He said, shooting the older elf a heartbreaking pleading look. He really, really wanted to talk to his father now!

"Hush now, come on. He is fast asleep now, little one, he cannot hear you anymore." The elf tried to explain calmly, smiling reassuringly. But Legolas just stood there, suddenly very pale, breathing heavily and looking awfully lost. He had heard this sentence before, but where? Where? Oh, he knew, he remembered! Oh no, it could not be! Not his father! Not his beloved Ada, too. No!

"NO! ADA!" He dashed back to the door, slamming his small fists against the wood, trying to open the door, again and again and again, rattling it madly. "ADA! ADA!" Tears were streaming down his face. He was all of a tremble, sobbing almost hysterically.

Lord Elrond was stunned by the sudden change from rather excited to purely horrified, but when he met Gandalf's concerned look he suddenly remembered, too! Oh no, he could not really have said this! That fool of a counsellor had just said that sentence again! That terrible sentence, everyone kept telling Legolas when he desperately had tried to get into his dead mother's chamber a year ago. Now he must have thought his father was dead, too!

Elrond rushed forward, kneeling down behind Legolas, turned him around and pulled him into a tight embrace.

"Shsh, everything is alright…Your Ada is alright…" He comforted, rocking forth and back, stroking Legolas' long blond hair and the tiny braids above his pointed ears.

"Ada, Ada…" the small elfling sobbed out, crying hard on Elrond's shoulder. Then suddenly – finally! – the door behind him opened. He whirled around and hugged his father's leg as tightly as he could.

"What? My little squir-…" Thranduil stopped, realizing everyone was watching. "Legolas?" He looked down on his sobbing little son desperately clinging to his legs. He met Lord Elrond's look with questioning and tired eyes, still half asleep. Finally he crouched down, lifted his son up on his arms and pressed him tightly against his own chest when he felt the small arms tighten around his neck and the little wet cheek on his own skin. 

"My King, I am so sorry. My Lord, I am afraid… somehow I must have scared him…" the unhappy counsellor tried to explain. 

But the king was too sleepy and too worried to think about a proper reply. He only wanted to lie down somewhere and sleep, sleep, sleep… forever. He felt so tired and burned out.

"My friend, you should get back to bed, now. I think, your little one here could make good use of some rest as well. It has been quite an exciting day for him, I assume." Lord Elrond said, gently pushing the king back into his bedroom, closing the door behind himself. 

He laid one arm around the king's shoulders and gently led him back to the large bed.

"I thank you, mellon nin. But what has happened?" Thranduil still did not understand what was going on. He removed the little quiver and bow from Legolas' back and put it down on the floor, his left arm still firmly wrapped around the little elfling he was holding. Then he lay down on the bed, gently pulling Legolas up to his own pillow.

"I will explain later. Basically he got your counsellor wrong and must have thought you were dead not only resting." Lord Elrond sighed. "Now, just try to get some sleep. You truly need it. And Legolas needs it as well. Just look…" He implied with his head towards the child, who had already fallen asleep, with closed eyes, in his father's arms, sucking on his right thumb, his cheeks still wet with tears.

"Ai, Elbereth! He has not done that for almost six months now." Thranduil noticed with concern, pressing Legolas' small body to himself. "My little squirrel…" He whispered, almost inaudible even to himself, leaning his cheek against the top of his son's head. Lord Elrond pulled a blanket over the two elves as if Thranduil was a mere child as well. 

"I will return to you later, if you would want me do so? And maybe it would be wise to have dinner here? Mayhap only you, Legolas, Mithrandir and I? I am sure we can cheer him up a little?" He offered, smiling softly. He knew exactly how Thranduil felt. He had three children, who were by now grown up, each of them already much over 2.000 years old. He knew how exhausting fatherhood could be. Thranduil nodded gratefully. He was asleep again within minutes only…

:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

Two hours later Legolas stirred and blinked, focussing his drowsy vision as he woke. He looked up and found Thranduil's face. His father was lying on his back, still asleep, his chest rising and falling in a steady rhythm, his eyes open but with an unfocused gaze. Cautiously Legolas robbed a bit closer to him. He leaned down and gave him a big, wet kiss on the lips, stroking his cheek gently with his tiny right hand. Thranduil started, slowly refocusing his sleepy gaze, wondering what had awoken him. Then he recognized his son leaning over him, smiling a little.

"Hello, my little squir-… my son." He whispered softly taking Legolas right hand in his own, squeezing it briefly. Legolas hugged him tightly, leaning his head heavily on his father's big, strong shoulder. Thranduil sighed, soothingly patting his son's head and back. 

It felt good holding and caressing each other. He remembered how much he had longed for his father, Oropher, to give him at least a little gentleness, when he was a child, but Oropher seldom did, too seldom, close to never. Thranduil had not realized he was doing the same to his son until Legolas' mother had scolded him for being so restrained. When Legolas then had come to him for the first time seeking some comfort in his arms, he went rigid, awfully insecure about how to react. But Legolas was so warm-hearted and gentle, in the end it was not hard at all to return his caresses. Amazing, how such a small elfling could teach him some things. He remembered his wife's soft and warm smile and her shiny eyes whenever she caught him cuddling their son.

But Thranduil could never make the first step. It was too hard for him. And even though he sometimes wanted to scream out loud and tell all Arda how much he loved his son, he never could say it. He relied on his son to know instinctively how much he cared for him, but deep inside he knew that that simply was not enough. He felt guilty sometimes, but it was so much easier to cast this feeling aside and go on with his work loaded life than to admit his mistake and change his ways. He had been taught that showing emotions was nothing but showing weakness and he had lived that knowledge for far too long to change it. He could not change it, not even for his own child's sake. Maybe it was because for an elf he was an old father. That was what his wife always suggested when they talked about his inability to show emotions towards his son without Legolas making the first step. Thranduil was of the same age as Lord Elrond, almost six thousand years old now. But unlike Elrond, whose twins and daughter were born when he was well in his mid three-thousands, Thranduil had already seen more than 5.950 winters when Legolas was born.

But that was not the only reason. Not anymore. The fact that Legolas resembled his mother so much hurt Thranduil. When she had still been with them, he had been proud and glad that Legolas had inherited her looks. But now whenever he looked at his child he saw her, and his heart ached so badly every single time he almost could not breathe. His grief was too fresh. He could not bear it. He hoped, no, he knew that someday he would get used to this emptiness in his heart, he would get used to never seeing her, never smelling her, never holding her again. But right now it still hurt too much. In some ways he was afraid of his son. He was afraid of the horrible pain that tightened around his chest when he looked at him. He was well aware that Legolas needed acknowledgement, warmth and love, but he simply could not give it without aching awfully and that hurt him even more. He knew he was weak and that he should be stronger for his child's sake. With concern he realized every day how much his behaviour had already changed his son. When his wife was still with them he was sure Legolas got enough love and gentleness and warmth, even when he was not there for him. But now that she was gone, he lacked it awfully. But still Thranduil could not find the strength to change his ways.

He sighed. 

"Are you well? Hungry maybe?" He asked Legolas, simple only to say anything. Legolas looked at him thoughtfully. He nodded slowly. Thranduil got up, offering him a helping hand to get out of the large bed as well.

"Well, then, we should find you something to eat now, should not we?"

"May I have something to drink, too, Ada?" Legolas asked seriously, retrieving his quiver and toy bow from the floor first before he looked up to his father.

"Well, do you not ask for a bit too much now, your Highness?" Thranduil asked, amused, looking down on his child. But as soon as he saw his son's bewildered look he mentally kicked himself. _Ai, Elbereth, he is a child, he cannot understand sarcasm yet, can he?_

He sighed, but before he could say anything, Legolas tugged on his tunic, protesting.

"But, Ada, I'm thirsty, too, and I have to drink or I will die, you know, Ada, you always tell me that yourself!" Legolas announced dryly, shooting him an incredible triumphant look, buckling his quiver at the same time.

Thranduil was a bit taken aback, to say the least, by his son's self-confident reply and started to laugh. 

"Oh, sure, my son, you are right. Forgive me, I forgot." He chuckled, kneeling down, and helped the boy taking on his quiver.

"Come on, let us go to the kitchen then and find you something to eat AND to drink, alright?" He lifted him up on his arms, steadying his son's seat on his left hip. Then they left the room, heading towards the kitchen.

"Ada, I shot a leaf on a bush today. Sel showed me how to do it and I shot it." Legolas said proudly when they were half way down the corridor.

"What leaf, then?"

Legolas sighed impatiently. Was he really so hard to understand or were all adults simply too stupid today? "The leaf on the bush. The yellow leaf on the top." He explained, running his short fingers over his toy bow, removing some dirt.

Thranduil chuckled again as he heard the impatient little sigh. "Oh, well, I might have guessed! Forgive me again, ion nin! How far away was it from you?"

"Almost, uhm, like…" Legolas squirmed on Thranduil's arm looking for something adequate to the distance he had shot the leaf from.

"Please, let me down, Ada." He asked. As soon as his feet were on the ground he started running back and forth the corridor, still looking for an equal to the distance. But it was almost impossible for him as long as his father kept on walking. 

"Ada, stop!" He demanded. Thranduil stopped instantly as if he had just received an order from Ilúvatar Himself. He blushed a bit as he felt the presence of someone else nearby, and felt a little embarrassed that someone had witnessed his reaction. He turned around, while his son ran back to his bedroom's door to walk or better said to march the approximate distance of his shot. Lord Elrond and Gandalf approached the two royals, smiling warmly at the king. Thranduil smiled back and turned around again, returning his attention to Legolas.

"Look, Ada, it's been so far." the elfling announced standing only a few steps away from Thranduil and quite a distance away from the bedroom's door.

"Well, that is rather good." Thranduil replied, smiling down on him. "And who held the bow?" He asked, obviously thinking Legolas had simply helped a warrior to draw the bow's string with both his small hands just like he allowed him to do it sometimes when he practiced himself.

"No, I shot it myself." Legolas explained.

"Whit what bow?" Thranduil wondered and crouched down. 

"My bow." Legolas was confused. _What else?_

"Your bow? You mean, your _toy_ bow? But that can not be…" Thranduil doubted, already wondering if his son would really lie to him. 

Now Legolas understood what his father might be thinking, and he shot him a very angry glare. Thranduil had never seen him do that and furrowed his brows in return. 

"Legolas, you know, lying is a bad thing." He warned.

Lord Elrond and Gandalf gasped in disapproval. They had seen Sel and some of the other warriors returning from the archery ground and had overheard their talk about Legolas' amazingly accurate and strong shot. Why in Arda did Thranduil not believe his son?

Legolas' eyes widened with disappointment. He could not say anything, so he just shook his head.

"Legolas, I do not doubt your skills but…" Thranduil went on.

"You think I can't do that?" That was not really a question, rather a statement, heavy with sadness and disbelief.

"No, Legolas, I do not think you cannot do this. But it is…"

"Why you think I can't do it?" Legolas voice was a bit angrier now. 

"Legolas, I said, I do not…" Thranduil started again.

"You think I lie!" His son cried.

"Legolas, would you please stop interrupting me!" Thranduil stood again, very displeased with his son's impolite behaviour.

"You think I lie!" Legolas said again. "I will prove it to you!" He shoved Thranduil out of his way and without second thought started running towards the main door, a both determined and angry look upon his little face. There was no question where he was heading to now.

"Legolas Greenleaf Thranduilion, Prince of Mirkwood! Come back! And NOW!" Thranduil shouted angrily. But Legolas ignored him, which made him even angrier.

"My Lord, should not we follow?" Lord Elrond wondered, staring after Legolas. "He might get himself into some trouble. The sun is already setting down behind the Misty Mountains. It's already getting dark."

"This Mordor brat! What does he think he is doing?!" the king fumed, but that was just his way of showing concern, both Elrond and Gandalf knew.

The three of them followed the prince, but they had already lost sight of him. They heard loud voices at the great gate and rushed down there.

"Prince Legolas, don't! Stay!" One of the guards yelled.

"Guards, stop him!" Thranduil's booming voice echoed through the woods as he saw Legolas slipping through the slowly opening, heavy gate. But his son was faster than the warriors and with incredible agility he jumped on a low branch nearby and took his ways through the trees. He knew none of the guards could follow him through there as he could run on thinner branches while the adult warriors had to run on the stronger ones. Besides, he could run through the trees with instinctive assurance like no second elf. Thranduil had to admit to himself he was still impressed whenever he saw his little son performing such a run as if nothing could be easier than that. _My little squirre_l, he thought somewhat proudly, but still couldn't help holding his breath every time Legolas jumped from one tree to the next. He always half expected half feared Legolas would miss a branch and crash down to the forest floor. But thank the Valar he never did. 

Finally Legolas reached the archery training ground. He ran to the spot where he had shot the leaf from, but of course there was no other yellow leaf so he had to choose another target. _Well then, it must be one of the real targets_, he thought and strode a few steps to the right, so he was in a straight line with the object on the other site of the field. His father, Lord Elrond, Mithrandir and four warriors – Sel was among them – who had heard Thranduil calling for his son and had followed their king to lend a helping hand if necessary, arrived and stood. Thranduil wanted to run to his son, but to the king's surprise both Lord Elrond and Mithrandir held him back.

"My Lord, let him do this…" Elrond whispered. Thranduil nodded understandingly.

Sel moved silently to the right and some metres forward, so he stood in Legolas' visual field. He knew, Legolas would not want him to help him, but maybe he could give him some confidence and support only through his mere presence. After all, he had taught the elfling how to shoot.

Legolas closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and stood like Sel had showed him. He opened his eyes again and notched an arrow. He remembered that he had to search a spot a bit above his origin target because his arrow would fly in an arch and not in a straight line. So he did not focus on the bull's eye itself but a point somewhere above it. He focussed only on it. He could see it clearly now even though the sky was already grey and the light somewhat diffuse. He also remembered that when he had shot the leaf his right arm was so tensed that it almost had started to tremble, so he draw the bow even harder. In the corner of his eye he saw Sel nodding almost imperceptibly. Then…

_…inhale…_

_…exhale…_

_…hold breath…_

_…and fire!_

He let the arrow fly. And even though it was only a toy arrow and not sharp at all, it sunk into the soft cork of the target. Not in the heart of the bull's eye, but still in the upper margin of the red centre spot. 

Sel smiled proudly. He had taught the prince well.

Thranduil held his breath both in awe for his son's obvious great talent and also in utter surprise. Lord Elrond and Gandalf exchanged knowing but no less impressed smiles. The other three warriors mumbled something beneath their breaths and nodded respectfully.

But Legolas dropped his head. He had failed. He had not got it right. He had not shot the heart of the centre. His father would not believe him ever. But even worse he felt tears stinging in his eyes. He knew his father hated it when he cried. It was weakness, nothing else. He couldn't cry now, no, he simply couldn't! Not now! He bit his lips, almost drawing blood, but it did not help, the tears were already running down his cheeks.

Thranduil saw his son's head and shoulders drop in disappointment and knew instantly what the boy must have thought. After all he was as much a perfectionist as his father. He approached him slowly. Kneeling down behind him, he gently grabbed Legolas' shoulders and turned him around. He opened his mouth to say some reassuring words, for he knew Legolas needed them and needed them badly, but the elfling jerked himself free of his grip.

"Let me!" He cried angrily – even though he was angry with himself this time, not with his father. "I hate you." He sobbed and rushed away again, this time heading home.

Thranduil was startled. He could neither move nor say a thing. The others watched in disbelief. Never had they expected the usual gentle and lovely elfling to say such a thing – least of all to his father whom he so clearly loved more than anything else in the world.

"My Lord?" Sel's soft voice got the king back to his senses. The warrior did not want to let Legolas run home on his own in the dark, but he also did not want to follow without his King's permission. Thranduil nodded as he understood.

"Follow him, make sure he returns home safely, please." Thranduil instructed, with a soft and tired whisper, slowly raising to his feet again.

Sel and one of the other warriors quickly followed Legolas, while the other two remained with Elrond, Gandalf and King Thranduil to guard them home safely as well. They walked back without speaking a word.


	4. Father and Son Chapter 4

**Disclaimer: **See chapter 1, please! Basically it says I own nothing. :)

**Father and Son – Chapter 4**

Legolas lay on his stomach, on his bed, still trying to control his sobbing. He had cried hard into his pillows. He missed his Nana, he wished she was there, holding him tight and rocking him to sleep like she had always done when he was sad. But then again, he wished even more his Ada would come to him and do that. But his Ada would never come and he wondered what a bad son he must be.

A soft knock on the door startled him. He sat up on his bed, listening intently, hoping yet fearing it would be his father.

"Legolas, it is I, Uncle Dir. May I come in?" He heard Mithrandir's voice say. He let out the breath he had held. Strange how he could feel so relieved yet so disappointed at the same time.  He got up, quickly wiped away his tears with the end of his sleeve and walked to the locked door. He opened it slowly, spying through a small slit to make sure it really was Mithrandir.

The wizard softly smiled down on him, slightly pushing the door open. "It is only I, we are safe." He whispered and winked. Legolas smiled back conspiringly, let the wizard pass, closed the door behind him and locked it again.

"So, that was a rather impressive shot, Master Prince!" Gandalf said, sitting down on a chair nearby the bed. 

"No, I didn't shot the centre." Legolas stated sadly.

"Well, it needs many months of practice to do that. It was only your second proper shot, was it not? It was very impressive, believe me! All the warriors praised you!" Gandalf reassured, smiling unintentionally as Legolas climbed on his lap. He sat there face to face with the wizard, absently fumbling in Gandalf's long grey beard.

"Uncle Dir, do you think Ada…." He sighed. "You think Ada thinks so, too?" Of course that meant so much more to him than any warrior's two penny worth.

"I am more than certain he does, my little wood elf. He was very impressed and very proud. Very, very proud indeed. He told me." That in itself was a lie of course, but Gandalf knew the king was very proud, so why not put it that way for the child's sake?

"But why does he hate me so much?" Legolas asked almost inaudibly. He was so afraid to look into Gandalf's eyes, fearing he could see an answer there he could not bear to get but he had to look up. He must know.

Gandalf sighed. "Oh, my little elfling, he does not hate you at all! He loves you with all his heart. He just cannot show it so well. You know, one does not always show or say what is in one's heart. When you told him today you hated him, did you mean it?" He said, stroking Legolas' head gently with his large weathered hand. 

"NO! No… I was angry, I didn't mean it. But I disappoint him, always, I-I…" He sighed.

"You see, sometimes we say things we do not mean, and sometimes we do things that make others think we hate them or that we are disappointed, but in fact that is not true. You must not think your father hates you or that you have disappointed him. You have not. And he really loves you. He really does."

"But I-I…" Legolas started to cry again.

"Yes?" Gandalf squeezed Legolas arms briefly. But he did not speak. He was too busy getting his sobs under control.

"Little heart, tell me, it is alright." He reassured once again, putting his index finger under the child's chin and turning his head up to meet his gaze. He almost wished he had not done that. The sadness in those big blue orbs was heartbreaking. He wiped away the tears with his thumb.

"I miss him so. He is here. But I miss him so much. I miss him like I miss my nana. But I don't know, he isn't dead, is he? Or is he dead maybe?" He sobbed out worriedly.

"Oh, no, he is not dead! I know how much you miss him. But he is not dead. He is here. Do not worry, my child, he is not dead. He is just very tired and very busy being king. But he is here. He is alright." Gandalf said, trying hard to suppress the tears he felt stinging in his own eyes as he saw new big tears of relief rolling down the sweet little face in front of him and as he heard a shuddering sigh escaping Legolas' mouth.

"Don't tell him, please! Please, don't tell him, I cried. Promise me, please." Legolas wailed on.

"I promise." He smiled his most assuring smile. "And now come and give your old uncle a big hug, won't you?" He said and pulled Legolas close. The elfling pressed himself tightly against the wizard's chest, crying silently in Gandalf's grey beard and tunic. The wizard leaned his cheek against the top of Legolas' head and started humming an old lullaby, gently rocking forth and back. But it took quite some time until Legolas finally fell asleep completely exhausted from the day's turmoil.

:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

"My friend, may I ask your advice?" Thranduil sat at the top end of the banquet table in his dining hall, Lord Elrond next to him, on his left side. They had been eating quietly until now.

"Of course, my Lord." Elrond replied, grateful that the awkward silence had finally been broken.

"How can I… why do I…" He sighed. This was so hard. "What do I do wrong?" 

"I take it, you are talking about Legolas?" Lord Elrond asked softly.

"Yes. It seems no matter what I do I do not get the boy under control."

"Well, that is probably the thing you do wrong, if I may be honest with you."

"What do you mean?"

"You do not have to bring him under control. There is no need to, Thranduil. He is a good child. I am amazed how mature he already is. It sometimes seems to me he is more grown up than my adult sons!" Elrond smiled at the thought. "The question is: should he be? After all, he is a mere elfling." He added.

"I know, but he has to be mature, I cannot watch over him all the time. I try my best. I set up guards, if he is alone. And he has a nursemaid. I cannot take care of both – him and my duties as a king. There is so much to do, so much work, he has to understand. My people need me. But sometimes it seems to me he simply does not want to understand." Thranduil said.

Elrond shot him an angry look. "How can you say such a thing? Do you not see that he is trying everything to please you? Really everything?! Forgive me, with all due respect, I think it is you who does not understand." The Noldor elf could hardly suppress his anger.

"What do mean?" 

Elrond sighed. "My friend, may I speak bluntly?" he asked more calmly now.

"You have my ear!" Thranduil leaned forward and looked at him more than somewhat desperately to find the answers to his questions.

"Legolas is a child. But from what I have seen I think you are treating him like an adult, you want him to be mature and obeying all your rules. But children are not like that. Believe me, I know what I am talking about!" He joked and Thranduil smiled knowingly. 

"To me it seems you rely on him, you want _him_ to be there for _you_. But _he_ is the child, _he_ is _your_ son! You cannot ask that much of him. _You_ have to be there for _him_! And _you_ must show _your_ love to _him_! You know, why that thing happened today? Because he wants you to believe in him. Could you not see how great his disappointment was when you did not? That is all he asks of you. To believe in him, to trust him, to, well, simply, love him. I know it is hard for you. There is too much you have to take care of, and I know you miss your wife, but, Thranduil, he is your son! And he has lost his mother. He is fragile still, and he needs you."

Thranduil stared on his empty plate. He suddenly felt very ill in the stomach.

"B-But what can I do?" His voice was only a hoarse whisper now.

"Well, just the normal things a father would do with his child." Lord Elrond replied, sighing, squeezing Thranduil's left hand briefly.

"But what is _that_?" Thranduil looked at him with sad eyes. "You see, my wife used to do all these things. She was the one taking care of him. I didn't have the time… I only brought him to bed sometimes or played hide and seek with him, but everything else…" he trailed of.

"I see. Well, first of all, make sure you spend at least a bit of time with him - every day! Talk to him, ask him how his day was. He's such a clever little boy, you will find him eager to learn everything you would teach him. And never ever simply send him away without explanation. He cannot understand that you probably just don't have time for him. He will mistake it for rejection."

"But that is the main problem. I do not have time. And when I send him away what can I do or say without hurting him? Today, when I sent him away when he interrupted our meeting… it was… so hard to see this sadness in his eyes. I tried to explain to him why he should not have gone in there. But he did not seem to understand. And he was so sad. It… it almost broke my heart." Thranduil admitted. 

"Well, why did you send him away anyway?" Lord Elrond asked patiently.

"Because he interrupted our meeting. That was impolite and rude behaviour, especially for a prince. He should not be encouraged to do such things by me being lenient. And he surely should not climb on anyone's lap without being told or ask to do so or at least asking before he does. And besides we still had to talk about some things. Things I do not think a child should hear."

Lord Elrond could hardly suppress a groan. "But, my Lord, he was there already, anyway! And the worst part was over. I am sure he would not have disturbed us the slightest bit nor would he taken harm listening to us! He could have stayed. No one would have minded it. And either do I think anyone considered it impolite or rude behaviour. Actually it was lovely! He is such a sweet mucky little pup!" He laughed. And laughed even harder when he saw Thranduil's shocked look.

"Pardon the expression, my lord. I am sorry, truly sorry. Forgive me… those were not my words actually! Arwen said that when we visited you some years ago and she saw him for the first time. Do you remember?" He stilled laughed.

"Well, I might have guessed. I did not think you knew such vocabulary! And I am amazed to find your daughter does!" Thranduil said dryly, making Elrond laugh even more. And he could not help chuckling himself.

"Actually, I had to stop her, Elladan and Elrohir from kidnapping your son! They were so in love with him! And, oh, Celebrian, I never thought it possible, but she conspired with our children back then! They really planned to secretly take him back home to Imladris with us. It took all my talking skills to convince them that you probably would not like that specific idea. But in all truth it would not have taken them a lot to convince me to join into their plan!" He revealed.

Both grinned.

"Oh well, I was not aware he had such an effect on anyone." Thranduil said.

"Had? Oh, my friend, he still has, believe me. You can ask anyone! Ask your servants! Your warriors even! I am always wondering where you pull the strength up from to resist him, really! While all around you simply drop to their knees and fall in love with him."

"You mean, he still is, how did you put it, a sweet mucky little pup?" They laughed again.

"Oh yes, he is."

"Well, I think I should check your bags then before you leave." He said, winking at Elrond.

They laughed again, caught their breaths and sighed. It was good to laugh. There was too less laughter in this palace lately.

"But to be serious again, is there anything else you think I should do? I am sorry, I must sound like a fool to you, but you have three children…"

"You do not sound like a fool. I had a lot to learn myself when the twins were born." Elrond replied gently and smiled, briefly lost in a sudden memory. "Bring him to bed at night, tell him bedtime stories, make it your every day habit if you can. So he has something he can look forward to every day. You know, I would like to suggest, teach him how to shoot an arrow, but I think there is no need for that anymore, would you not agree?" He winked, and Thranduil nodded smiling warmly at the thought. 

"Basically just do what your hearts tell you to. I also highly recommend letting him invite some friends to here, some other elflings to play with. It is really to quiet here! Let him live in his own little child world for a while…I can see he is a bit of a dreamer, do not deny him that, he needs it. And most importantly tell him that you love him. He must hear it from time to time."

They locked eyes for a moment, both knowing how much that idea frightened Thranduil. Then Gandalf entered the room.

"Mithrandir, mellon nin, have a seat! I will have your meal warmed up for you, if you like?" Thranduil kindly offered, grateful for the interruption.

"Mhm, well, honestly I would love that!" Gandalf said, stroking his stomach hungrily and winking at Elrond while he sat down next to him.

Thranduil turned around to order his servant, but the elf behind him had already heard Gandalf's words. He only nodded smiling knowingly, took the plate Thranduil handed him, then headed towards the kitchen.

"How is Legolas?" Lord Elrond asked.

"Well, I put him to bed and tucked him in, he was rather tired."

"Did he say anything? I mean, about what has happened." Thranduil wanted to know.

"Oh, he did, but I told him, he should not worry about these things. He should be alright now. Do not worry, my friend. I can assure you, he did not mean what he said. He loves you." Thranduil blushed a bit and blushed even more as he felt the heat of his blood creeping up his neck into his face.

"What did he say then?" He asked almost shyly. He wished he had gone to Legolas and talked to him himself.

"Well, I do not think breaking my promise to not tell anyone would be wise! I saw that shot, too!" Gandalf winked, and the two elves laughed. "He is quite a good archer already, that sweet mucky little pup of yours, my friend!" He added.

Thranduil and Elrond exchanged knowing looks and burst into fits of laughter.

"Oh, well, so I must check your bags, too, then, I think." Thranduil laughed. Gandalf did not quite understand what he was talking about or what was so funny, but either way, it was good to see his friends laugh so he joined in.

They sat for a while, drinking wine – Gandalf eating – and talking about other things, mainly the latest orc attacks. It was clear that something needed to be done and soon, but what exactly, none of them could say yet. The orc seemed to increase in numbers day by day so the first logical step would be to reinforce Thranduil's army. That task of course would take some time to be accomplished. 

Many elves had settled all parts of the woods during the time of the watchful peace and a large part of Thranduil's army was spread all over Mirkwood. It would take some time to reunite them. A further problem was the lack of young warriors. Many elves chose other careers these days as being a warrior did not seem to be an interesting job anymore in times of peace. But now the king needed both, old warriors and new recruits, in order to make sure that he would not run out of warriors in times of battle.

He knew in the not so far future he himself would reinforce his army with a young warrior, a warrior he did not want ever to face the ugly phiz of war. But that would be inevitable, he knew. And it frightened him for this warrior was his only child. He shuddered at the mere thought of Legolas fighting spiders, orcs and wargs. He flinched as Lord Elrond suddenly touched his arm.

"Mellon nin?" The Noldor elf looked concerned.

"Beg you pardon? I- I was thinking, could you repeat…?" he stuttered. Obviously he had not heard Lord Elrond's last question.

"I asked whether we should continue tomorrow. You look tired." Elrond said.

"Oh, yes, maybe it is time to get some sleep. We should also hear what my counsellors think, I guess." The king agreed.

They rose and left the dining hall. On their way to their bedchambers they passed Legolas' bedroom, and Thranduil felt the sudden urge to check in on his son. But as always he cast the feeling aside – at least as long as Lord Elrond and Mithrandir were around he would not display such emotional behaviour. He thought of the evening's event at the archery ground and he shuddered at the thought that Legolas had run out in the woods without caring to take an escort with him. And suddenly he wondered how Legolas had got to and back from the training ground in the afternoon prior to the whole incident.

"Elrond, do you happen to know how Legolas got back from the archery field this afternoon?" He asked worriedly, stopping in front his own bedroom's door. He knew, there was no way, the other elf would know, how Legolas had gotten there, since he had been with him in the conference room at that time.

"What do you mean? He ran I think. He did not take his pony." Elrond answered seriously yet irritated.

"No, I mean, do you know if any warriors accompanied him?" 

"No, he was on his own when he arrived here."

"What?!" Thranduil shouted almost hysterically. "He is not allowed to walk the woods alone! It is far too dangerous. Do not tell me he flouted this rule! You know what that would mean! Are you sure?" 

"Well, yes, I am quite certain. And I know, what it means, but do you not think it would be wise to let him get away with it this one time? I am sure he will not do it again." Elrond tried to calm the king. He knew what consequences such behaviour could have for an elfling - any elfling, no matter if of Noldor, Sindarin, Silvan, Galladhrim or any other heritage. It was quite simple: a beating.*

Elves would never beat their children themselves though in order to prevent irreparable damage to the bond they shared with their offspring. And of course a punishment such as giving their child a spanking would only be executed if truly necessary, for example when a child endangered itself by flouting an important rule on purpose. In such a case the parents would send their disobedient child to relatives such as an uncle or an aunt to let them execute the penalty. And of course in comparison to humans the elves would still be very gentle with their children…

But Thranduil did not have any siblings or friends close enough that he would trust them to carry out such a task. And he definitely would not ask Lord Elrond or Mithrandir to do it. He sighed. What should he do? Do it himself? Was it really necessary? He should talk to Legolas first to make sure he really had done such a mistake.

"Thranduil, you should not punish him. He probably was so excited about his shot he did not realize what he was doing. You do not know what you would do to him if you would punish him in such a way." Mithrandir interjected.

"I fear I have no other choice, Mithrandir. If he does not learn to follow rules now then he will never do it. And this is not just any rule. It is the first, the most important rule for all elflings in Mirkwood! No elfling is allowed to walk the woods without an adult accompanying them. And he should know that better than anyone else. Hell, a year ago he almost was killed when he _was_ guarded! What do you think could have happened to him today _without_ guards! I cannot allow him to be so ignorant, not if it could cost him his life. I cannot risk being lenient and leaving him thinking there is no need to take this rule seriously."

"Mellon nin..." Lord Elrond tried again.

"No, Elrond, as much as I appreciate your advice, in this case I have no choice but to be strict. Mirkwood is not Rivendell. My woods are a very dangerous place, especially for an elfling. We have spiders here not to mention orcs and wargs. He could have been killed! And he is not just any elfling. He is the only heir to the thrown! Just think about what that means! What it would mean for Mirkwood if she would lose her only prince! And besides what would you have done if your sons would have endangered themselves in such a way on purpose?"

"I doubt he did this on purpose." Elrond offered. But he saw the stern look on Thranduil's face and knew there was nothing he could do or say to change the king's mind. The punishment was inevitable. And to his surprise he could understand why it was necessary. He probably would make the same decision if Legolas was his child.

"Mellyn nin, if you would excuse me now. I have some thinking to do. Rest well." Thranduil said sadly, opened the door to his room and left them standing in the corridor.

"He must not do it!" Gandalf whispered his face one single worried frown.

"I know. But what choice does he have? To be honest if I were Legolas' father I would probably consider doing the same." Elrond said equally worried.

"No, you do not understand. If he does this to Legolas, the boy will break. I should not tell you this because I promised the elfling not to tell anyone, but I have to. He already thinks his father hates him. He cried his eyes out after what had happened at the archery field. He cried himself to sleep. You cannot believe how incredible lost the elfling feels. Thranduil will only achieve the exact opposite if he punishes him. And _that_ would truly be dangerous for Legolas." The wizard explained trying hard to keep his voice low.

"But do you suggest he should do instead then? I mean, he is right, this is serious. Legolas could have gotten himself into big trouble out there all alone. He probably needs to learn a lesson to keep him from doing such a thing again."

"What about talking and listening to his son for a change!" Gandalf was angry. He really liked Thranduil, but the elven king could be so damn stubborn it was unbelievable! And his oblivious behaviour concerning Legolas' needs was dangerously stupid in many ways.

"Then you should try and talk to him again tomorrow." Elrond suggested.

"This I surely will!" Gandalf said, whirled around and swiftly walked down to his guest chamber while Elrond went to his room.

On the other side of the door to Thranduil's bedchamber stood an elven king, once strong and proud, now feeling utterly small and so weak he sank to his knees. One single silver tear was rolling down his pale cheek. Thanks to his keen hearing he had heard everything. He wished he had not. For the first time in his entire life he wished he was human so he could not have heard what his friends had said.

He sighed once again. At some point this day he had lost count of how many times he had done that.

_If only they knew how hard this is for me. If only Legolas knew…_

:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

* please see A/N at the beginning of chapter 1 for more information! Don't worry! Maybe the term "spanking" would be more appropriate here… I just didn't remember that verb when I wrote this story.


	5. Father and Son Chapter 5

**Disclaimer:** See chapter 1, please. Basically it says I own nothing! 

Please see Chapter 1 for updated A/N part 2! Thank you!

**Beta:** Yippie! Here is chapter 5, all betaed up by **Akedhi**, who really must hate me for all those subordinate clauses *lol*! :) *hugs beta* Thank you!

:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

**Responses to reviews:**

First of all a big hug and thank you to all my reviewers. You really made my day! :)

**Karri**: We talked about it via Email and I hope you're satisfied with the solution I have found for this :) 

**Farflung**: I'm glad you like it! And yes, Legolas will fight side by side with those warriors one day and Sel will become a very dear friend indeed. :)

**Lamoo**: Thank you so much! And yes, both father and son definitely need a veeery big hug! Actually Thranduil needs it even worse than Legolas.

**Chloe Amethyst**: Thank you so much! *dances around happily* Your summary of my Thranduil characterization is exactly what I wanted my readers to see in him! I'm so glad it worked! :) For the "being afraid of bearded man"-part – most children seem to be afraid of men with beards for some reason, so I thought it might be the same with elflings. I also thought Gandalf is quite a peculiar and very authoritative guy, isn't he? So I thought children would surely act a bit cautiously around him before they got to know him and even if they knew him they'd still be reserved and respectful, but not our brave little Legolas, of course! ;) Uhm, what else? Ah, yes, uhm, no, I don't do archery. I did a bit of research though, so I wouldn't make a complete fool of myself and it was worth it coz before the research I didn't even know that you have to aim higher to hit your target (thinking about it: stupid me!). Still I'm sure any archery teacher would like to give me a beating for this scene and would ramble on for hours how it would have been described properly etc. etc., but I honestly tried my best, so... ;) I'd love to do archery though and I definitely wouldn't mind to have Sel as my teacher *lol*. For the age-appropriate note: my big sister works in a kindergarten and I picked her up from work one day and watched the children for some time while waiting for her.  That helped a bit, I think.

**Joee1**: Glad you like it! And don't worry about the beating. Everything is going to be alright… 

**TigerRain**: Well, I'm very sorry to say this, but at the moment I don't think there'll be any space or reason for Elrohir, Elladan and/or Arwen to appear in this story. Mhmm. *thinks* But maybe I'll write a sequel or another story including all of them later, alrighty? :) Oh, please be gentle with Thranduil – he's still in grief for his wife and he doesn't know what he's doing! He's a very worried single father who doesn't have a clue how to deal with the situation and who definitely needs some healing! ;) – Plus he's damn stubborn! Hehe…

:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

**Father and Son – Chapter 5**

The next morning, everyone in the palace was awakened by the happy, angelic laughter of a certain little elfling.

King Thranduil got up and stepped out on the balcony attached to his large chamber and looked down into the courtyard. He had to smile as he spotted Legolas down there, squirming on the lap of his nursemaid, an older elf called Míriel, who was mercilessly tickling him. 

Since his mother's death Míriel took care of Legolas in the mornings to help him get up, wash and dress and comb and braid his hair. She also brought him to bed and tucked him in the evenings. Usually she left him alone for the rest of the day because if he did not go to the archery ground - which was very seldom the case - he liked spending his day at the stables or in the kitchen. If he did that he rode and groomed his pony, played with the head groom's dog, read picture books, draw pictures for his Ada or occasionally helped the cook baking cakes and bread. He did not really need his nursemaid for that, but she always stayed in the palace area, spending her day in one of the beautiful gardens or in the servants' quarters, so Legolas could always find her if he wanted to. 

Most days he went with some of the warriors to the archery ground anyway. The nursemaid, mother of two grown up sons, did not like that idea much though. Therefore she sometimes stayed a bit longer with Legolas and played with him in the morning just to make sure he would not spend the entire day at the archery field every single day of his young life. She did not consider it good for the boy to be around warriors all the time - no matter how much he loved to. And she was glad to know that the boy soon would be taking lessons in language, history, art, etc. so he would be busy with that for the most part of his day. Of course that also meant that soon he also would be taking proper lessons in weaponry but she rather push such thoughts aside... 

As Legolas tickled her in return she laughed and threw her head back. That was when she caught sight of her king. She stopped laughing and jumped to her feet immediately, almost tossing Legolas to the ground. With an instinctive reaction she got hold of the child's arms and set him safely down on his feet. 

"My Lord! Good morning. Forgive me, your Highness, we did not mean to wake you…" she stuttered embarrassedly. 

"Mhmph." Thranduil waved forgivingly suppressing a yawn. "Please, inform the kitchen, we shall have breakfast in the garden. You're dismissed, dear Míriel," he replied kindly. She smiled, bowed and rushed away. 

Legolas locked eyes with his father for a moment. Thranduil felt uneasy; he did not quite know what to say after everything that had happened yesterday. And surely he did not feel any better about what was going to happen today, either. 

"I would have a word with you in my study after breakfast, Legolas. So do not make any plans for the rest of the day, am I understood?" he finally said, with a stern frown on his fair face. 

"Yes, Ada." Legolas swallowed hard, knowing he was in trouble once again. Being summoned to his Ada's study was always a bad thing. 

"And Legolas?" 

"Yes, Ada?"

"Wash your hands before breakfast. Meet me in the garden immediately after you're done. You have five minutes." 

"Yes, Ada," the child replied and dashed away.

:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

Elrond, who had watched and overheard the conversation from his guest room, was on full alert. He hastily threw on his tunic, jumped in his leggings and left his chamber. He strode up down the corridor to Mithrandir's room. Before he even got the chance to knock at the door, it swung open and Mithrandir almost collided with him as he rushed outside. 

"Have you heard? After breakfast…" Elrond gasped.

"Yes. We must bring him back to his senses!" Gandalf all but flew down the corridors and stairs, outside into the garden with Elrond right on his heels.

Thranduil was already there, sitting in the warm morning sun. Two servants bustled about, adding two more place settings and bringing more of the fresh fruits, dry meat, vegetables, warm bread and tea, and a mug of hot milk for Legolas. 

Gandalf and Elrond took their seats, hoping Legolas would take his time so they would have the chance to talk to the king before the little one arrived. Before either of them could speak the elfling came running down the stairs and jumped the last three steps. 

They exchanged worried looks, cursing themselves for not acting faster, but smiled almost innocently as Legolas approached them and hugged each of them good morning.

"Did you sleep well, Master Prince?" Gandalf asked, shooting Thranduil a nervous look across the table. 

"Yes, Uncle Dir. You too?" Legolas replied friendly and slowly walked around the table, cautiously approaching his father without looking at him. 

"Yes, thank you, very well, indeed. Any sweet dreams you would share with us?" Gandalf went on, desperately trying to start a light-hearted conversation before anything bad could be said or done. 

Legolas shook his head and stopped right beside his father. The king looked at him questioningly. 

"Good morning, Ada." The elfling whispered shyly to him and held out his arms to embrace his father.

"Good morning, Legolas." Thranduil replied hoarsely. He had not expected that! He was so surprised he automatically hugged Legolas and patted his back reassuringly. As he realized what he was doing he all but jerked back, shooting his son a suddenly angry glare. No way would he forget about his son's misdeed yesterday only because Legolas was acting so sweetly.

"Sit down and drink your milk." He said as coolly as possible after such an open display of warm-heartedness and gently shoved Legolas towards the empty chair on his left side. The elfling needed all his strength to put on a brave face for all of a sudden his chest felt awfully heavy and breathing hurt as a well known sadness pressed down on him once again. 

_Why is __Ada__ so angry with me?_ he wondered as he climbed on his chair. He bit his lower lip nervously and tried to concentrate on the mug of hot steaming milk before him. 

Gandalf's look wandered from Thranduil to Legolas and from Legolas to Elrond, who met his gaze, then back to Thranduil. The air was so thick with tension one could cut it with a wooden spoon! He had to do something, so he closed his eyes, smiled and took a deep breath. He started sniffing around the various items on the breakfast table. 

"Ah, the sweet smell of morning!" He whispered mysteriously, winked at Legolas and gently poked the boy in his belly. 

The elfling giggled. 

"You're so funny, Uncle Dir!" he announced, still chuckling. 

"Oh! So you say?" Gandalf smiled warmly down on him, carefully watching Thranduil out of the corner of his eye.

Legolas nodded and smiled back. Thranduil could hardly suppress a groan of surrender and took some bread and dry meat, gesturing his guests to start breakfasting as well. 

"You're like Labahû." Legolas informed Gandalf, shifting about in his chair, grinning from one pointed ear to the other. 

_How am I supposed to do this when he is so sweet and innocent and smiles like that?_ Thranduil thought to himself and absentmindedly started smoothing the napkin on his lap over and over again. This did not go unnoticed by Gandalf. 

"Labahû?" The wizard asked and reached out for an apple. _This is working fairly well so far!_ he thought. 

"The dog that lives in the stables with Ada's horses! He's my friend," the elfling exclaimed, somewhat proudly. Gandalf and Elrond chuckled. Thranduil managed to suppress a smile and went on smoothing his napkin. 

"Oh, I see, you think I look like a dog! Why, thank you! I wonder where my tail is!" Gandalf joked and looked around, mockingly searching for his tail. Legolas and Elrond laughed wholeheartedly. Thranduil only chuckled almost inaudibly. 

"No, you don't look like a dog, Uncle Dir!" Legolas cried, amused, adding, "You're so funny!" Another fit of laughter took his breath away when Gandalf feigned a shocked, embarrassed look.

Thranduil watched but said nothing. He couldn't remember the last time he had had such a joyful conversation with his son. _How does Mithrandir do that?_ he wondered.

"So, why am I like Labahû then?" Gandalf wanted to know, cutting his apple in quarters. 

"You snuffle like him. He always snuffles! Really! He snuffles my face sometimes, and it tickles me. He is very funny, too. And he is sooo big." Legolas held his hand as high as his forehead and smiled, his eyes sparkling with joy. 

"I like him. He and my pony are friends, too, you know. But I can't ride Labahû, he has only three legs." He made a pitying face.  "Sel says you can't ride dogs anyway, but I do not believe him. If Labahû had four legs I could ride him. He is a very nice dog." Legolas rambled on happily, letting his legs dangling forth and back.

"I am certain he is. And you can be very proud to claim such a nice dog your friend.  Maybe you can introduce me to him some time?" Gandalf suggested, grinning, and Legolas immediately hopped from his chair. 

"Ada, can we go to the stables? I can show Uncle Dir Labahû!" he asked enthusiastically, his heart leaping with joy.

Thranduil was this close to surrender, but somehow he managed to put on a stern face and shake his head no.

"No, Legolas, and now sit down and drink your milk! You will not go to the stables today. I told you I would have a word with you after breakfast. Are you finished yet?" Thranduil admonished half-heartedly. 

_Mhm, then again, this might work not as well as I thought!_ Gandalf considered.

Legolas shook his head. His shoulders dropped as he did what his father told him. He sat down again, took his mug of milk in both hands and rotated it thoughtfully. He did not make any attempts to drink. He liked the warmth of the mug between his palms, but he was not thirsty or hungry anymore. 

"Legolas, stop playing with your food! And breakfast!" Thranduil barked at him and shot his son another angry glare. 

_I'm certainly going to be the villain today, am I not?_ Thranduil thought. 

"I'm not hungry." Legolas whispered, not meeting his father's gaze. 

Thranduil sighed. They had been through this whole "I'm not hungry"-discussion some time ago already. He was about to continue scolding his son but Elrond leaned forward and hastily asked him if he had had a good night's rest.  

"Apart from a pounding headache and some not so pleasant dreams, it was fair enough." The king replied honestly. He did not have the strength anymore to put on an act he was just perfectly fine. 

Lord Elrond and Gandalf knew it surely was not only headaches and bad dreams which had cost the king some good night's rest. He certainly was not looking forward to the planned punishment for his son, either, both guessed. 

"I hope the two of you had a peaceful night in my house?" Thranduil asked in return, looking from Elrond to Gandalf then back to Elrond as if to ask for their approval. Only Elrond nodded slightly. Gandalf shrugged and started filling the adults' mugs with tea. 

Legolas sat there, musing.

"What did you dream of, Ada?" he asked cautiously after a while and finally started drinking his milk.

"Nothing you should worry about," Thranduil replied, more softly now. He looked up in surprise as he felt Elrond gently kicking him on the shin under the table. The Noldor elf threw him an unmistakable look and Thranduil understood. 

"I- I dreamt of spiders," he told his son. 

Legolas choked on his milk and coughed. 

"Ai!" He exclaimed, still half choking, and looked at Thranduil wide-eyed. He sometimes dreamt of the big black spiders that lived in the forest, too. He hated them; they were so ugly. And somewhere he had heard that they ate elflings. 

"Did they eat you?" he asked hastily, staring at his father.

"Well, not exactly…" Thranduil chuckled. He could not help it. "But they almost ate my horse!" 

"Ai, Ada! Not Nari!" Legolas winced at the thought.

"Yes, it was terrible. But they did not eat him." Thranduil reassured him, sadly amazed by the fact that he had almost forgotten his horse's name – Narhalf or 'Nari' as Legolas nicknamed him – while his little son clearly had no problem to remember it. Was he really so oblivious of the beings surrounding him? Or was he simply too tired? 

Legolas saw the sad look on his father's face. And of course he thought the dream must have frightened his Ada. He quickly jumped down from his chair once again, ran over to Thranduil and climbed on his lap. 

Thranduil was so lost in thoughts about his horse's name that he did not really see Legolas move over. He started as he felt the little weight on his lap and two tiny arms hugging him tightly around the neck. 

"It was only a bad dream, Ada," Legolas comforted seriously. 

"I know, ion nin. I know. It was only a bad dream," Thranduil replied softly after a while, sadly taking in the sweet little face of his son as Legolas turned his head to look at him. 

He could drown in these big blue depths looking up at him with so much awe and warmth and love. _Oh, how much I love you, my little squirrel! If only you knew!_ he thought. _Damn, why cannot I just tell you!_ And it hurt him so much it was almost unbearable! He felt so guilty somehow and so ashamed of himself. Ashamed of his inability to simply say what his heart wanted him to scream out loud. Nervously he fumbled with Legolas' thin golden braids. 

"Now, what about some proper breakfast? You must eat something, ion nin. Look, there are strawberries. You like strawberries a lot, do not you?" He asked gently, casting his feelings aside once more. Legolas nodded. He loved strawberries. And my Ada knows it! he thought happily. He smiled, leaned forward and soundly kissed Thranduil on the lips, startling him yet again. 

"I love you, Ada," he announced, turned around on his father's lap and picked up some strawberries.  

Elrond and Gandalf stared at the king and… did they really see tears shining there in his eyes?

:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

They had finished breakfast silently and Thranduil excused himself to his study. He had asked Legolas to show Gandalf and Elrond to the library so he could have some time on his own before his son would come to meet him.

He sat behind his desk contemplating his next actions anxiously, nervously playing with the switch in his hand as he heard a soft knock at the door. 

_So, this is it then,_ he thought and sighed.

:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

Lord Elrond and Gandalf watched Legolas waving one last time as he stood in the doorframe. Then the elfling turned around and closed the door to the library behind him.

Elrond impatiently paced the room for a moment.

"Do you think Thranduil will do it?" he finally asked, as soon as he was sure that Legolas could not hear him anymore. 

"No. I have seen it in his eyes. He will not beat his child." Gandalf replied calmly and sat down on an armchair at the window.

"Thank the Valar! I have seen it, too, I think. I am glad he has finally come to his senses! I never truly believed he would really do it anyway. Well, at least, I hoped so." Elrond said relieved, launching himself on a nearby couch. He looked at Gandalf, and a new wave of concern caught his stomach as he saw the wizard furrowing his brow and thoughtfully gazing at the pattern of the floor.

"What is it, Mithrandir?" the elf wanted to know.

"Well, I fear this will not be the end of the story." Gandalf said and looked up to meet his friend's eyes. 

"What do you mean, mellon nin?" Elrond rose from his seat and walked over to where Gandalf sat. He crouched down in front of him and put a hand on the wizard's knee. 

"I do not know for certain myself. But something is going to happen. And I cannot see if it will be good or bad. I only know, this time there is naught we can do about it." 

"So, we just sit and wait?" Elrond asked skeptically. 

"Well, I fear fate would have us do so." The Istar nodded and picked up a leather-bound volume from a table next to his chair. 

:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

Thranduil took a deep breath.

"Come in," he ordered, and Legolas entered the room.  

"Hello, Ada," the elfling said and… smiled! 

Thranduil stared at his son for a while, his heart beating like mad in his chest. _Ai, Elbereth, I cannot do this! What am I to do? I cannot really do this to him! _He rose and slowly walked around his desk, the switch still in his hand.

"Legolas, do you know why I wanted a word with you?" He asked seriously, fumbling nervously with the switch. 

"No, Ada." Legolas' smile faded away.

_That's better. At least he should know this is serious and be prepared. Oh sweet Eru, must I really to do this?_

"Where were you yesterday afternoon?" He asked as coldly as possible, leaning back against his desk, folding his arms across his chest. 

"At the archery ground," Legolas answered, still not sure what this was all about.

"And did you wait for some warriors to take you there?"

"Yes, Ada," he nodded eagerly.

"And did you also wait for some warriors to take you back home?"

Silence. 

Legolas mused for a moment. His sweet little face got paler with each second that passed.

"Legolas?" his father asked in a sharp tone. 

"No," the elfling finally admitted with a small voice.

Thranduil glared down on him from above.

"But Ada…" the elfling started.

"Legolas, what have I told you about walking the woods on your own?" Thranduil demanded to know, glaring at his son. 

Legolas took a deep breath. He really was in trouble now. His Ada was very angry.

"I am not allowed to walk the woods alone. It is too dangerous. It is a rule and I disgrace myself if I break this rule and…" Legolas swallowed hard.

"And?"

"And if I break this rule you… y-you have to punish me. And I will bring disgrace on you, too."

_Well, at least he listened to me when I told him these things. _

"Now then, tell me, what were you thinking when you ignored this rule, Legolas? Do you have anything to say that would justify such a misdeed? And do not try telling me that nothing has happened to you! That is not the question here and now!" the king hissed, feeling his heart ache as he saw tears coming to his son's eyes. 

_Please do not cry, please do not cry, my little squirrel! I cannot do this if you cry! _

"Ada, I… I just wanted to tell you about the shot."

"Enlighten me, please, Legolas! Why would that be of such urgency that you could not wait for Sel or any other warrior to accompany you back home?" He bend down, his face only inches away from Legolas'.

"'Cause I wanted you to know, Ada! You never go shooting with me. And I wanted to tell you. I wanted you to be proud of me." Legolas tried to explain.

"Do you really think I can be proud of you if you do something so stupid such as running back through the woods unaccompanied? What in all Arda were you thinking, Legolas? Something could have happened to you! You know how dangerous the forest is. There are orcs and spiders and other evil creatures out there!" Thranduil shouted and started pacing the room. Why did he feel so guilty all of a sudden? He clenched his fist around the switch so tightly it almost broke.

"I know, but we never see spiders or orcs on the way to the archery ground." Legolas replied innocently. 

Red spots danced before Thranduil's eyes. That was exactly what his wife had always told him and that he was being overprotective again, when he would not let her go riding or go for a walk without an escort.

He whirled around, tossed the switch aside and tightly grabbed Legolas by the upper arms with his large strong hands.

"Your nana did not see any spiders or orcs, either, before she was killed! And she was killed! They killed her! Do you want yourself to get killed, too? Do you want to be slain by an orc, too?! Do you?! Do you?!" he yelled at Legolas shaking him unintentionally.

"No!" the elfling cried back, both scared and angry, tears rolling down his face. "But you said you wanted me to help you. And I promised you. And you need warriors. Sel says you need warriors. And I can shoot a leaf, and Sel can show me how to shoot orcs and spiders, too, and then you can have me as your warrior! And I wanted to tell you that I can shoot a leaf and that I can be your warrior soon! And when I kill all the orcs and the spiders for you, then you do not have to be busy being king anymore and you can sleep and you have more time for me, too," he sobbed out.

Thranduil stared at the small child in disbelief and unconsciously tightened his grip around Legolas' arms as the real meaning of his son's words sank in onto him.

He could not say anything. He could not even breathe.

"Ada, you're hurting me. Ada, please, you're hurting me!" the elfling sobbed on, desperately trying to jerk free, fear written all over his small face. 

Suddenly Thranduil felt the room spinning beneath his feet, and he sank down on his knees, almost tearing Legolas down with the weight he unconsciously leaned on him to steady himself.

"Ada!" Legolas shrieked in horror as he saw his father collapse.

Thranduil was vaguely aware that Legolas was still with him. And if there was one thing he did not want his son to see it was him breaking down like this. He let go off of his son's arms and muttered the first and probably only words that came to his mind.

Legolas whirled around and fled out of the room to fetch Uncle Rond or Uncle Dir or anyone to help his Ada. 

And his little heart clenched painfully in his chest as he realized what his father had just said to him…

"Get out of my sight." 


	6. Father and Son Chapter 6

**Disclaimer:** Please see chapter 1. Basically it says I own nothing! ;)

**Beta:** Not betaed by Akedhi yet, but revised by myself. Yes, after re-reading the beta-version of chapter 5 I've been able to figure some mistakes out by myself! ;)

**Additional A/N:** We will have two more OCs in here. It was really hard for me to create names for them but I hope they're not completely foolish. Férlaes is meant to mean "oak leaf" and Hador simply means "Warrior". I think, Tolkien used this name as well, but this is a completely different Hador, mind you. Hope you like this chappie! Even though to be honest, I think it's not so good to say the least (*mumbles under her breath "crap" mumbles on*…) - Way too less Legolas-action in here! Anyway, on with the story!

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

**Father and Son - Chapter 6**

Lord Elrond and Gandalf sat in silence, both leafing through some ancient books. Neither of them could find the inner peace to really read something though. Elrond suddenly felt a slight trace of foreshadowing pulling on his mind and looked over to Gandalf. Something was wrong. He could feel it. Strangely enough it felt exactly like the anticipation he always had had when one of his children had been in some sort of trouble or hurt.

"Mithrandir…" He started, but did not get any further for all of a sudden the door to the library flew open and his attention was immediately drawn to the heavily panting, crying elfling in the doorframe.

"Ada… ada… please… help…" Legolas somehow managed to wail out in between frantic sobs.

The two adults were on their feet immediately. They jogged down the hall, letting Legolas lead the way. The elfling ran as fast as his short legs would let him. They reached Thranduil's study in no time, and the wide open door already indicated that something was amiss. Neither Thranduil nor Legolas would ever leave a door open just like that under normal circumstances, for both shared a strong conception of tidiness. Elrond and Mithrandir entered the room and found Thranduil sitting on the couch at the window, his face hidden in his hands. Legolas froze in the doorframe.

He did not dare to go into his Ada's study. His Ada had told him to go away and he did not want to make him even angrier than he already was. But he just could not leave either. He was scared and he really wanted to know what was wrong with his Ada. He sank down on his knees and crawled into the darkest corner of the room. From here he could overlook everything without being seen by his Ada. He watched Lord Elrond slowly approaching his father and Gandalf stopping some feet behind the healer from Imladris.

Thranduil did not look up. He knew there was someone else in the room, but he did not want anyone to see his tear strained face. However, he did not have the strength to send whoever had entered the room away, either.

Elrond approached him cautiously and slightly touched his shoulder with his right hand.

"Thranduil, mellon nin. Are you well?" He asked gently. Considering Legolas' panic-stricken attitude he honestly had expected to find the king sprawled all over the floor, bleeding half way to death or something like that. But in all truth Thranduil did not look as if something was wrong with him – except maybe for his slightly slouched shoulders and the fact that he covered his face with his hands.

"What have I done?" Thranduil murmured into his palms so low Elrond almost could not hear it even though he was only inches away from the king. Elrond crouched down before him and squeezed his shoulder, pushing him to talk. Had he beaten Legolas? Had he done it even though both he and Mithrandir had been so sure he would not do it. It could not be!

Thranduil finally dropped his hands and looked at him. Elrond almost gasped in shock. Thranduil's eyes were red from crying, his face deathly pale, silver trails of tears on both his cheeks. Elrond had known the other elf for almost his entire life but he had never seen him cry once. Even not when his wife had been killed.

"My friend, what has happened? Please do not tell us you have beaten Legolas…" Elrond asked hoarsely, fearing the answer could tell him otherwise. 

"No, I could not…" Thranduil whispered staring at the floor. Elrond let out a breath he did not know he had held. He turned around to Gandalf and in the wizard's eyes he saw the question he had just asked Thranduil. He shook his head slightly and Gandalf also sighed in relief. He stepped forward to be able to see and hear the king because Elrond somewhat blocked his line of view and the king's voice was so low he had understand not one single word that had been said.

"We knew you would not do it." Gandalf interjected and patted Thranduil's shoulder affectionately.

"But I hurt him…" Thranduil confessed, turning his haunted eyes on the wizard.

"I shook him. I grabbed him by the arms. Oh so tightly. He was so scared of me. I cannot believe I did this to him! I cannot believe I almost beat him! What was I thinking? And he said… he said… I cannot believe I made him think that way… What have I done? What have I done?" Thranduil rambled on, shaking his head in disbelief for his own behaviour, his croaky voice faltering all the way.

He turned his head to look at Elrond but suddenly a stabbing pain pierced through his left upper arm. He clutched his arm and gritted his teeth in pain. 

Elrond and Gandalf quickly traded worried looks.

"Thranduil!" Elrond cried, in alarm. Then the king fell forward, going limp in the other elf's embrace. 

Gandalf grabbed the king's shoulders to steady him as he threatened to fell on his obviously hurting arm. Together they gently lowered Thranduil to the floor and rolled him on his right side. Elrond searched the other elf's neck for a pulse – he found it irregular and weak beating way too fast beneath his fingers. And yet it was stronger than he had feared.

"Stay with him, I go get my healing packs!" Elrond exclaimed and hastily left the room. 

Gandalf did the only thing he could do at the moment: he pulled a woollen blanket he had found lying folded over one side of the couch over Thranduil and gently petted the unconscious elf's back. He looked around the room, not knowing what exactly he was searching for until he caught sight of a small bundle huddled up in the farthest corner of the room: Legolas. The small elfling stared at him wide-eyed.

"Legolas, little heart…" He called, but did not know what to say to the scared elfling.

"I-Is Ada d-dead?" He heard Legolas' small voice whisper anxiously as the boy cautiously crawled a few feet forward.

"No, my elfling. Do not be afraid. Your ada will be alright. He is sleeping only. He is a little bit ill, though, but he will be alright, do not worry." Gandalf said and tried to smile as reassuringly as possible. 

Then Elrond returned to the room, with Míriel right on his heels. Her mother instincts had suddenly led her to go check in on Legolas after breakfast and fortunately she had met Elrond on her way to the prince's room.

"Legolas, sweetie, come to me," she said, kneeling down before the prince with arms extended ready to catch the elfling. Legolas got up, stumbled forward and threw himself into her open arms. He cried silently on her shoulder as she lifted him up and started to leave the room.

"Do not worry, your Ada will be alright, sweetie. Now, let us go to your room. We can wait for him there." She said in a soothing voice and kissed the child's wet hot cheek. She did not want Legolas to see all this. From the frightened look in his eyes he was already scared to death anyway. There was no need to let him witness anything further that might happen here. 

"My Lords, I will bring Legolas to his room. There is no need for him to see -… this. Is there anything I can do for you? Do you want me to send you one of the king's healers?" She asked standing in the doorframe, gently rubbing small comforting circles on Legolas' back.

"Yes, please. We also need some help to move the king to his chambers." Lord Elrond replied gratefully while he rummaged through his healing pack.

"Yes, my Lord." She curtsied and left.

"I cannot understand this, Mithrandir. He is an elf, he is not supposed to get a heart attack. And yet all symptoms indicate to it." Elrond murmured, looking at various vials.

"I do not understand this, either, to be honest. Let us hope his heart will heal – in one way and another." Gandalf replied and pinched the bridge of his nose thoughtfully. He hated to admit it, but all this was tiring him and made his head ache.

"Ah, here it is." Elrond said as he finally found the vial he was looking for. "Help me let him sit up. He must drink this. It will help his heart to regain a steady, regular rhythm. It will also numb the pain in his chest and arm."

The two of them turned Thranduil on his back and lifted his still limp form into a sitting position. Elrond poured some of the clear liquid in the king's mouth. Thranduil swallowed it instinctively. They lowered him back down, turned him on his right side again and waited.

After what seemed an eternity to them one of the king's healers finally entered the room, accompanied by two other elves who apparently were his assistants. Together they lifted Thranduil up and carefully carried him to his bedroom. As they lowered him on his bed he stirred and his eyes slowly fluttered open. He blinked, looked around, clearly confused as to what had happened and why he suddenly found himself lying in his bed with Elrond, Gandalf and his healer hovering over him, with worried looks on their faces.

"What…" He started, his voice failing him, and Elrond gently brushed a finger against his lips.

"Easy, mellon nin. Do not speak. Save your strength and rest." Elrond said and smiled reassuringly down on him.

Thranduil felt too weak to protest, closed his eyes again and fell into a deep restful sleep.

:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

Legolas had not been asleep but he certainly needed rest as much as his father needed it, so Míriel had put him in his bed and drawn the curtain in his room to shut out the sunshine that fell through the large window. Reluctantly she had left him alone to go and get the healer for her king. She hurried up to get back to him. Cautiously she opened the door to his room and slipped into the semi-dark chamber, hoping the prince had fallen asleep during her absence. She tiptoed to the bed and froze. Legolas was not there. The bed was empty.

"Legolas?" She called but got no answer. She quickly whirled around and drew back the curtains. She was temporarily blinded by the bright sunlight, but soon her eyes adjusted to it.

"Legolas!?" She looked around the room. He was not here. She ran to the small bathroom attached to his chamber. But he was not in there, either.

Once more she looked around, even checking the space under Legolas' bed. Then she noticed that his toy bow and his toy quiver were missing, too. _So he has gone to the archery training ground again, I see, _she thought. It wasn't an unusual thing for Legolas to do even in a situation like that. Actually he always did that when he felt distressed. It helped him ease his mind. And clearly the poor elfling needed some distraction right now. 

However, to be sure on this, she went down to the great gate and asked the guards on duty if Legolas had been there and if he had left with some of their fellow warriors. They confirmed, and she led out a relieved breath. 

She went back to the palace where she met Gandalf on his way from Legolas' room to the main entrance.

"Have you seen the little one, my dear?" The wizard asked as soon as he saw her turning around a corner. 

"No, my Lord, but the guards say he went to the archery field with some of the warriors. He must have slipped out when I left him alone to get the healer." Míriel answered and came to a halt right in front of him.

"Oh?" The wizard seemed surprised and concern shone in his blue-grey eyes.

"There is no need to worry, my Lord! He always does that when something distresses him. It helps him ease his mind." She explained, smiling slightly.

"That, of course, is good to know." Gandalf said but did not look any less concerned.

"May I ask how the king fares?" Míriel asked cautiously after a moment of awkward silence.

"Oh, he will be alright. He needs rest more than anything else now." Gandalf put a calming hand on her shoulder.

Míriel bit her lower lip and nodded. She so much wanted to ask what had happened but of course she was in no position to ask any more questions. After all she was just another of King Thranduil's servants and it was not of her business what had happened. From what Elrond had told her on their way to the study, the king had had a serious talk with Legolas about an incident that had happened the day before and apparently had collapsed during the argument.

"My Lord, is there anything else I can do for you?" She asked politely.

"No, my dear. For now all has been done. Of course it would be good to know you are available when Legolas returns." 

"Of course, my Lord. You can find me in the kitchen. I will see to it that Legolas gets his favourite meal today. That is the least I can think of at the moment to cheer the sweetheart up a little. I will stay in the garden outside the kitchen afterwards so you can find me at any time should you need me. Would that be alright?" She asked.

Gandalf smiled and nodded, squeezed her shoulder and turned around to go back to the king's chamber. Míriel curtsied and started her way to the kitchen.

In her restlessness she had not noticed that Legolas' favourite picture book, his cuddle cloth, wax crayons, sketch pad and the small bag he used to carry those things around with when he went to see a friend in the village and stayed there overnight were missing, too.

:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

Legolas sat in the shadow of a large oak tree near the archery training field, waiting and watching. He felt hungry, tired and his head ached badly but he knew he could not go back to his Ada and tell him about it and let him make it go away. With a painful sigh he took his favourite picture book out of his small bag, rolled onto his stomach and started leafing through the sites. Occasionally he looked up to see if Sel had finished his training yet. But the warrior had just arrived and started his training a few minutes ago so it could take hours until he would finish his exercises. Legolas sighed once more and returned his attention to the picture book in front of him. After a while he fell asleep, his little head resting on the gloriously colourful picture of a peacock.

:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

It was afternoon when Sel finally finished his archery training. He packed up his stuff and slung his bag over his shoulder laughing about the friendly bantering going on between his two comrades Férlaes and Hador. These two had been his friends since he could not remember when but they never ceased to amuse him with their mock arguments about each other's archery skills.

The three of them were the last group of warriors to leave the training area today, and together they casually made their way back to the main path that would either lead them back to the palace or deeper into the forest and at long last to the several settlements where the families of some warriors' lived. And one of those settlements was exactly where Sel would head to this day, for his first holiday since months! He was really looking forward to see his wife and son again. 

Originally he had planned to start his homeward trip earlier this day because the settlement where his family lived was almost a day's journey away from the palace area but various things had kept him from beginning his travel – most of all the extra training he had been ordered to do before leaving as a penalty for arriving late at a meeting this morning. His captain did not care that Sel had helped a young groom with an especially wild-tempered colt that somehow had managed to get caught in thorny undergrowth. But Sel would never argue with his captain about orders and accepted the penalty without any protest.

However he did not appreciate the fact that, because of this, he would have to either walk through the night or make camp somewhere today. But rather than walking back to the quarters at the palace and arriving home in the late afternoon the following day, he started his journey today to arrive at home early before lunchtime the next day at least. He missed his son and his wife a lot and did not want to waste precious time.

The three warriors stood at the 'entrance' of the training area – a large gap between two oaks at the edge of the clearing that was used as training field – making some last jokes before parting as Hador caught sight of a grey-silver bundle in the high grass near an large tree. The bundle looked amazingly like a small elfling and the golden hair that shone through the grass even made it look amazingly like a certain small elfling called Legolas.

"Sel, is that not your little friend Prince Legolas over there?" He asked, pointing out to where Legolas was lying.

"What?" Sel said in disbelief and turned around, his gaze following the direction his friend's finger pointed to. Then he saw the bundle, too. 

He quickly walked over to the elfling and kneeled down next to him. He nodded at his two friends who had stayed at the entrance of the training area, confirming it was indeed Legolas lying there. He gently shook Legolas' shoulder, but the elfling only moaned lowly in his sleep, turned over on his side and curled himself into a small ball.

"Mhm, well, that is a rather tired elfling we have here, is it not?" Sel murmured to himself and smiled softly down on the prince. He picked up the picture book, closed it and stuffed it back into Legolas' bag. He then slung the small bag, the toy quiver and toy bow over his free shoulder, gently grabbed Legolas under the pits of his arms and lifted the sleeping elfling up on his arms. 

Legolas automatically slung his short legs around Sel's waist and his tiny right arm around his neck, leaning his head against the warrior's strong shoulder. Unconsciously he lifted his left hand to his face and started sucking his thumb, his index finger resting on his sweet tiny nose.

Sel made his way over to his two friends and smiled, gently stroking down a loose strand of Legolas' blond hair with his free hand.

"He sleeps like a log!" He whispered to his two mates and winked. Both smiled in return.

"Hador, take him, please." He asked his friend, who immediately reached out his hands to take over the elfling. But Legolas was holding onto Sel's tunic so tightly he practically had to rip him off. Doing that he unintentionally moved Legolas' left arm and the elfling snapped out of his deep slumber as his thumb was violently pulled out of his mouth. He blinked and looked around utterly surprised.

"Good morning, my little Prince!" Sel laughed and affectionately pinched the elfling's cheek. 

Legolas squirmed on Hador's arm and the warrior sat him down on the ground. Sel crouched down and gave Legolas his small bag, toy bow and quiver, helping the elfling to put the quiver on.

"What are you still doing here, little one, if I may ask?" Sel wanted to know.

"I'm waiting for you." Legolas replied, his voice still very sleepy.

"I am sorry, but I am not going back to the palace today. But Hador and Férlaes will take you home with them, alright?" Sel smiled up at his two friends who nodded approvingly as Legolas turned his head to look at the two strange elves.

"But I want to go with you." Legolas looked at Sel anxiously and shook his head, tiredly rubbing his right eye with his tiny fist.

"Oh, sweetie, I am really sorry, but I cannot take you with me today. I am going home to see my wife and my son. Please believe me, my two friends here are very strong warriors, they will protect you with their lives and take you back to the palace as safely as I." He squeezed Legolas' shoulder reassuringly.

"But I don't want to go back to the palace. Can't I go with you, Sel, please?" Legolas asked, his face lightning up a bit at the mere thought.

"No, I am really sorry, that is impossible. Just think what your Ada would say if I would take you with me."   
  


"Ada doesn't want to see me anymore. I can go with you." Legolas informed, stepped forward and smilingly took Sel's right hand in his small hand. Sel stood up, distancing himself from the elfling to make clear that he would not change his mind.

"My Prince, please do not make this harder for you and me than it is. I honestly cannot take you with me no matter how much I would like to. You must go home with my friends. And I am certain your Ada wants you back home soon to take you in his arms and tickle you all over." He tickled Legolas under the chin a bit and made him giggle, hoping it would ease the elfling's mind. It worked - for impressive two seconds.

"Please take me with you, Sel." Legolas begged again, but Sel shook his head, sighing sadly. The warrior looked at his friends sending them a pleading look to help him.

"My Prince, if I may…?" Férlaes said light-heartedly, bowed and lifted Legolas up on his arms. 

The elfling did not protest and buried his face in Férlaes' tunic.  He did not want to start crying in front of the warrior he admired so much. If Ada did not like to see him cry then Sel surely did not like it, either. But even though he managed to fight back the tears he was in despair. He did not know what to do now. He did not want to go back to his Ada's palace. He simply could not. His Ada did not want him there. But if Sel would not take him with him, what could he do now? He sighed unhappily.

"Safe journey, mellon nin, and give your devil brat of a son a kiss for me." Férlaes told Sel, winked and turned around on his heels. 

"For me, too, please, oh and of course one for your lovely wife as well. I still cannot believe she chose you over me!" Hador teased, turned around, too and waved his parting friend good-bye without looking back.

"Thank you so much, Hador! Namaarie, mellyn nin. And please take good care of the prince. I would not have the king have your hides if you do not bring his son back home safely." Sel teased in return and grinned. His two friends both looked back over their shoulders and rolled their eyes.

"We will try our very best, oh mighty warrior of Mirkwood! But you cannot expect too much of us, of course. I mean, just look at us, we are merely two simple-minded wood-elves after all." Hador shot back sarcastically and laughed. He managed to duck the small branch that came flying into his direction for an answer. 

"Namaarie, mellyn nin." Sel cried once more and hurried up. He had already been wasting too much time with those two crazy elves who claimed to be his friends.

"See you soon, Sel!" Both yelled back and started their walk back to the palace.

:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

They had been walking for a little more than an hour now and the closer to the palace the company of the two warriors and the little elfling got the greater Legolas' despair grew. He knew he was not allowed to walk the woods alone and he did not want to make his Ada even angrier by breaking this rule once again. On the other hand he wanted to go with Sel and meet his family and maybe even live with them. He surely could live with them. He would never see his Ada again and so his Ada would never know he had walked into the forest alone and so he could not get angry, either. Or could he? Oh, this all was so confusing! Legolas really did not know what to do. He only knew he could not go back to the palace. Sel could not be so far away now, could he? He could run as fast as possible and surely he would catch up with him soon. But how could he convince the two strange warriors to let him go if he even could not convince Sel to take him along?

He looked up at the two as he walked between them. They were talking over his head - sometimes seriously discussing things like orcs and wargs and spiders and then again laughing about what a friend of them had said or done, making jokes Legolas did not understand. They did not really pay much attention to him. Legolas nervously fumbled with his bag, contemplating his options and next actions. 

Fate played into the elfling's hands as Férlaes stopped to follow the call of nature.

Hador stood with Legolas, waiting, while the other warrior took off into the undergrowth nearby. This was Legolas' chance.

"Can we play hide and seek?" He asked, looking up at the tall warrior in front of him, smiling.

"Mhm, so we hide and Férlaes has to seek us when he comes back?" Hador asked back and grinned at the thought of playing a little prank on his friend. That was not exactly what Legolas had thought of, but for some reason this sounded even better to him. He nodded eagerly, grinning, too.

"Alright, but you must be very quiet or he will find us, can you do that? Mayhap we should split up so he cannot find us too easily." Hador smiled down on the prince conspiringly, already dragging him by the hand to the other site of the path.

"Yes. I can climb up a tree, he can't find me then." Legolas offered, nodding again.

"Agreed. But do not go too far away. And if anything comes close to you that does NOT look like Férlaes or me or a squirrel, scream! Understood?" Hador fixed him with a stern gaze to make sure the elfling understood that he was serious about this. Legolas nodded once more, biting his lower lip. Then the two of them parted to hide somewhere in the surrounding forest.

After a few minutes Férlaes came walking back to the path, looking down along his upper body, adjusting his tunic and belt, talking to thin air without noticing it. Hador waited, crouched down behind a large bush, and could hardly suppress a snigger when he saw the dumbstruck expression on his friend's face as he looked up and saw that no one was there.

"Hador?" Férlaes called, turning to all directions, searching for his friend. Then realization dawned on him and he smiled. "Alright, alright, got me! Where are you two?" He asked, laughing slightly to himself.

Hador watched his friend with growing amusement. Occasionally he let his gaze wander over the surrounding trees but he could not see Legolas anywhere. _The boy certainly has some talents, _he thought and returned his attention to Férlaes only to find his friend was not there anymore! Stealthily he moved a bit to the right to get a better view on the path and let out a startled cry as out of nothing a large hand grabbed him by the collar and pulled him out of his hiding place.

"Hador, Hador! An orc could have heard you let alone an elf!" Férlaes teased him and shook his had in mock admonishment.

"Haha. Very funny." Hador straightened his shoulders and grinned back. "You should have seen that face of yours when you find we were gone! Priceless!" He laughed and clapped his friends' shoulder. 

"Yes, alright, alright." The other elf laughed back. "Well, now, where is the prince?" He asked, looking around.

"Hiding somewhere in a tree!" Hador replied and smiled, looking around, too.

They started to search for the elfling. After a while they realized their chances to find Legolas would improve if they would split up. 

After quite some time of unsuccessful searching they both returned to the point where they had parted. 

"Where in Mordor is he?" Hador asked, catching his breath.

"I do not know. _You_ were the one playing the trick on _me_, remember?" Férlaes replied. The two friends traded worried glances.

"That is enough, game over!" Hador said seriously and started calling for Legolas.

His friend did not hesitate to join him and soon both of them were frantically running back and forth, here and there, searching and calling for the prince. Never did they expect that Legolas had long been gone, taking his way through the trees right to where they had come from, desperately trying to catch up with Sel.

…to be continued…


	7. Father and Son Chapter 7

**Disclaimer:** Please, see chapter 1! Basically it says I own nothing. :) *sob*

**Beta:** Not betaed by Akedhi yet, but revised by myself. Yes, after re-reading the beta-version of chapter 5 I've been able to figure some mistakes out by myself. Akedhi, watch out for that line about "giant spiders" you wanted me to include somewhere. It's not exactly the same line, but quite close and it's somewhere in here! :)

**Additional A/N:** This is a rather large chapter and my neck hurts awfully from spending way too much time in front of that damn screen! Loads of Legolas-action here! I hope you like it! 

**Responses to reviews:**

Thanks for all those encouraging reviews! It's always good to see that some peope actually are enjoying reading this story! :)

An especially big THANK YOU to **farflung** who really amazed me with his/her detailed and well done reviews, wow! You really made my day! *hugs* The wooden spoon-thing was something I came up with to make clear that the tension was really very high in that scene. I mean, you can easily cut something with a sharp knife, but how much worse would it be if you could even cut it with a blunt thing such as a wooden spoon? But maybe that's a typical German misinterpretation of the English language…? Mhmm… :/

No, **Haldir's**** Heart and Soul**, there's nothing romantic about Thranduil's and Míriel's relationship. No Fran Fine-Maxwell Sheffield-thing going on there, sorry! ;) Míriel has a family of her own and Thranduil, well, he will forever love his wife as you will probably find out at the end of this chapter. :) Actually there's not much contact between king and nanny – thinking about it there isn't even much contact between nanny and prince… ;)

**TigerRain**, you wondered how Thranduil, as an elf, could ever get a heart attack. Actually it was not really a heart attack – at least not a common one like humans can have. I just thought that if elves can die of a broken heart, wouldn't they at some point start to actually feel their heart breaking physically? And wouldn't that be quite a painful thing and amazingly resembling a heart attack? That's kinda what has happened to Thranduil in chapter 5/6. You also wondered why Legolas, as an elfling, hasn't become sick from all this yet: well, actually he has! You can find hints on that in chapter 6. His headaches and kinda ever present tiredness there indicate that he didn't get out of this physically unharmed, either. :) Besides I always thought of him as a character that rather would do something about his situation than lying down somewhere and slowly fade. And as long as his father is still alive he has two good reasons not to get too sick, lay down and die: 1) he wants to be there for his Ada and help him and protect him, 2) deep inside of him he still knows/hopes that his Ada loves him, too. If only he would show it to him once!!! *argh* ;)

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

**Father and Son - Chapter 7**

Legolas had been running for what seemed an eternity to him and still had not caught up with Sel. His head was hurting really badly now and he felt thirsty, hungry and tired. Slowly but surely he started to believe that he would not find the warrior ever. And even worse, he knew he had been running alone through the forest far too long for his Ada's comfort. He sighed and crouched down on the branch he was on, catching his breath.

He did not know the part of the forest he was in right now even though his Nana had often taken him out for a ride or a walk to show him their realm. He took a deep breath, rose again and continued running through the trees.

Once more he came to a halt as the path beneath him divided into several smaller paths leading into different directions. He was at complete loss which one to follow. 

For a moment he seriously considered running back to the two warriors who had accompanied him hours before, but then again he thought of his Ada and that they would take him back to the palace. He did not want to go there because his Ada did not want him there anymore, and he did not want to make his Ada angry and sick again. He felt tears stinging in his eyes as he thought of his father and how much he already missed him. But there was no use in crying now. He had to find Sel. He looked around the trees frantically and saw a squirrel running over the path to his very right. He took that as a sign that this might be the correct way. 

Little did he know that this path led into the complete opposite direction to where Sel had headed.

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

Férlaes and Hador had been searching the area they had walked with Legolas for quite some hours now. They had worked their way back to the archery field, checking every single bush, tree and hole in the ground, but still they had not found the slightest trail of their prince. They had went through what had been said at the archery training ground in the earlier afternoon and finally had hit the idea that Legolas probably had run back to follow Sel.

Both knew that Legolas could never catch up with their friend, and besides, the way to the settlement where Sel's family lived was rather complicated – especially for an elfling who did not know the route at all! They were sure that by now Legolas must have been completely lost somewhere in the forest. Unfortunately for them the area was too big to search it on their own. They knew they needed a search party to find the missing elfling.

Darkness was drawing nearer and nearer when they finally admitted to themselves that their attempts were futile. Both of them shuddered at the thought how their king would react to the news that they had lost his only son. Thranduil was famous for his hot-headedness, especially where his son's safety was concerned, and any merely halfway sane elf would rather not be at the receiving end of his wrath! But there was no way they could avoid that today and their concern for Legolas' safety was greater than anything else. So they hurried up, making their way back to the palace. 

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

Mithrandir was already waiting at the great gate, impatiently pacing between the two guards on duty. They had told him that all warriors except for three had returned to the palace area and that Sel was one of those three who still must be at the archery training ground. Of course all the warriors and also Gandalf knew how much Legolas admired the aforementioned warrior. They all were sure Legolas would come back with him. Nonetheless, the Istar was restless. 

He was this close to take off to the archery field himself as he saw two warriors running towards the palace – neither Legolas nor Sel were with them. Mithrandir's face went slightly pale. And his heart sped up a little as he saw the worried looks on Férlaes' and Hador's faces. 

"Where is he? Where is Legolas? Where is Selmacas?" He demanded as calmly as he could, randomly grabbing Hador by the elbow as the two warriors came to a halt before him.

"Selmacas is on his way to his home settlement, my Lord. We don't know where Legolas is for sure, but we think he has tried to follow our friend. We were walking back with him from the training field and lost him. We have searched the area for quite some time now and could not find him anywhere. I am so sorry, Mithrandir…" Hador explained hastily, catching his breath, guilt written all over his face.

"We must inform King Thranduil immediately, my Lord. We need a search party to look for the prince!" Férlaes said, anxiously looking from Gandalf to Hador, who nodded, and back to the wizard.

"The king is not well, and I rather would not bother him with such ill news. We should inform Lord Elrond and Lord Bellbeor instead." Gandalf suggested, already pulling Hador with him towards the palace. "You, go and get the search party ready." He ordered to Férlaes. "We should move out as soon as possible. It is dark already and I would not have the prince out there all on his own for the whole night." He went on, and Férlaes nodded, bowed and rushed down to the warriors' quarters, while the other two quickly made their way into the palace. 

They found Lord Elrond, Thranduil's healer and Lord Bellbeor, one of Thranduil's most trusted counsellors, in the great hall. As they saw Gandalf and Hador approaching all of them knew instantly that something was wrong. Hador filled them in on what had happened in the forest and everyone jumped into action immediately. Lord Bellbeor instructed Hador to help Férlaes getting the search party ready and went straight into his king's study, collecting all maps he considered useful for their search. Lord Elrond rushed to his chambers, grabbed his healing pack and several supplies he thought that might be needed. Gandalf went down to the kitchen to get some Lembas and water for the search party and – more importantly – the prince. 

He regretted that he had sent Míriel home earlier that day, but now was not the time for crying over split milk. She had told him that one of her sons had send message that he would return home from a very long journey today. And although she wanted to stay and wait for Legolas she also wanted to go home, welcome her son back and spend as much time with him as possible before he left again. She had not seen him for almost hundred years now. A few days ago she had asked her king to allow her to have some days off and of course he had agreed. Gandalf did not want to take that back and had sent her home, trusting that no one would take offence from his actions.

Ten minutes later Lord Bellbeor, Lord Elrond, Mithrandir and twelve warriors including Férlaes and Hador met at the great gate.

"I have instructed our healer to stay with the king and not tell him anything about this until absolutely necessary." Lord Bellbeor informed Lord Elrond and Gandalf, and both nodded approvingly.

"Very well, I also talked to him. I have made one of my special sleeping draughts, so he can sedate the king if necessary. Thranduil really only needs a good night sleep, and I am quite certain he will be back on his feet in two or three days at most." Lord Elrond explained. Bellbeor and Gandalf nodded once again.

Then the search party took off into the forest.

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

Legolas was lost and in complete despair. He had left several twists and turns behind him and now he could not even remember which way he had come from, let alone which way to go. He could not travel on because the path he had followed up to this point sloped down in a very steep angle beneath the tree in which he stood on a branch. His throat was dry and his stomach hurt as badly as his head. And he was frightened because it was already getting dark and he still had not found Sel. He wished his Ada was here. He managed not to cry. He must be more grown up, his Ada had told him. Crying was not a grown up thing to do, he knew. So he bit his lip and fought back the tears.

Down the slope he saw something silver reflecting the last traces of light and he climbed down the tree, walked towards the edge of the slope and cautiously glimpsed down to see what it was. There was a small brook running down there and his spirit lightened up a bit since he really was very thirsty. He struggled to sling his small bag over his shoulder because his toy bow and toy quiver always got in the way. As he finally managed to get things sorted out and his hands were free, he crouched down on the ground and slowly started to climb down the slope. He was so thirsty! He tried to be as brave as possible but could not help groaning from time to time when his feet could not find anything to step on and his hands and arms hurt from the strain he put on them. 

He was halfway down the slope when he got stuck. He could not find anything to step on next and the root he was holding onto was beginning to cut into the soft flesh of his palms. The other thin root he was standing on swayed dangerously under his light weight. He did not have the strength anymore to climb up the slope again but there was no way he could get down, either. He took a deep breath, trying hard not to start crying and looked down, desperately searching for something to step or hold onto, carefully shifting his feet on the unsteady vein beneath him. Suddenly he heard the sickening crack of the root he was standing on, and the next things he knew was that there was only thin air beneath his feet. He held onto the vein in his hands as tightly as he could, but his palms hurt so much. Finally his small body could not stand the pain anymore and he lost his hold on the root, with a small cry escaping his mouth. He flew down the slope going head over heels as he hit his little head against a root further down. Finally he landed in the thick undergrowth at the lower end of the slope with a low thump. He gasped in pain as the air was hit out of his small lungs and his quiver was violently shoved into his back. His fall was enough to send him over the edge, not only literally. He started crying soundlessly, his small hurting body trembling awfully.

"Ada, please, help me…" He sobbed out with a small voice. Then darkness claimed him.

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

The search party had spread out in order to cover as most ground as possible at one time. They moved slowly though, not wanting to miss the slightest hint that could lead them to their prince. But due to the fact that Legolas obviously had taken his way through the trees it was almost impossible to tell where he had gone.

Hoping that the elfling had followed the way to Sel's settlement, they decided to also take that route first before starting to search other areas of the forest. 

They searched all the way through the night until the sun rose at the eastern sky when they finally reached Sel's home settlement. The warrior must have walked through the night as well since they had not found any signs of a camp during their search.

Sel was startled as he saw his fellow warriors entering the clearing where he, his family and several other elves had settled down so many years ago. As he caught sight of his two friends Férlaes and Hador, shame, guilt and fear written all over their faces, he knew exactly what was wrong. He instantly offered to join the search party but Lord Bellbeor and his friends convinced him to stay home and enjoy the holiday with his family. They had to promise him to inform him immediately when the prince was found though.

Sel's wife supplied the search party with fresh food and tea as they rested and Lord Elrond, Mithrandir and Lord Bellbeor took the opportunity to sit down somewhere a little bit away from the rest of the group and talked.

"I am at loss, my friends, he could be everywhere out there!" Lord Bellbeor shook his head and shuddered at the thought that the small elfling had spent the night in the forest all alone. "Let us pray to the Valar we will find him before anyone or anything else does! I cannot stand the idea of giant spiders with appetite for little elflings getting near the prince far too close for comfort!" He exclaimed, still shaking his head. "If only the king was not ill. I am certain we could find his son sooner with his help." He went on.

"What do you mean?" Lord Elrond asked curiously, looking up from his mug of hot steaming tea.

"These two share such a deep bond without really noticing it themselves, you see. I know sometimes Thranduil seems to be at loss to understand his son's needs, well, I admit, he sometimes in fact _is_ at loss, but nonetheless he loves Legolas with all his heart as much as Legolas loves him. They always seemed to have some sort of telepathic connection when it comes down to know where the other one lingers. I have never heard any of them ever ask anyone else where the other one is. They seem to know that instinctively for some reason. Look, do you remember how Legolas ran straight to Thranduil's chamber when he returned from the archery field two days ago? How could he know the king was there? We had been in the conference room before that. And it is always like that. They have given up playing hide and seek long ago because they simply could find each other too easily." Lord Bellbeor explained.

"Well, then, I guess, it is no surprise why Legolas could not quite remember the concept of that particular game yesterday!" Lord Elrond joked and despite the seriousness of the situation they shared a laugh. 

Growing serious again Gandalf took a deep breath. "Mayhap we should return straight back to the palace then. I am sure Thranduil is already better today and should be informed about what has happened. I would have you check him over first before we tell him anything though, Elrond. We would not risk another heart attack – if it was one, that is," the wizard said and his two companions agreed.

After ten more minutes of rest the search party started their journey back to King Thranduil's palace, taking a slightly different route now to cover up another area on their way home. It was late in the afternoon when they arrived at the palace and again they had found nothing.

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

Legolas started with a soft moan. His small body hurt all over and he had to blink as a beam of bright sunlight blinded him. 

He turned his head to look around because at first he was a little bit confused as to where he was. He had slept through the night, and fortunately the bushes he had fallen into had protected him from the view of any creatures that might have happened by. His head and back hurt terribly and he was hungry and thirsty and worst of all he really missed his Ada very badly. 

Carefully he rolled over on his stomach, crawled out of the bushes, stood up and swayed slightly but managed to walk over to the small stream, where he kneeled down and drank eagerly. He washed his small face – really being the good boy he was taught to be – and carefully palpated the big bump on his forehead.

_That's way my head hurts so much,_ he thought. 

He more or less crawled back into the undergrowth and picked up his toy bow and his bag which he had both lost during his fall but had landed right next to him. He rummaged through his bag and pulled out his cuddle cloth. Slinging all his items over his shoulders once more, he swiftly strode back to the brook, wetted one corner of his cloth and pressed it against the bump on his head. He looked around the surrounding trees cautiously and only hardly ignored the urge to put his thumb in his mouth to suck on it. Ada had told him that sucking his thumb was not good for his teeth, and he did not want them to start hurting, too. 

He still did not know where he was, but he remembered that his Nana had once told him that all brooks and small streams he could find in the forest would ultimately flow into a great river and then into the lake near where the humans lived. The only river he knew was the one running next to and partly even beneath his Ada's palace. And even though he was not sure if that was the great river his Nana had talked about, his face lightened up at the idea that maybe he had finally found a way back home. If he would follow that brook and could find the river he could also find his Ada's palace! He got so excited about that idea, that pain, hunger and sadness were suddenly forgotten, and he took off following the small stream. 

The elfling had run for several hours, only resting once in a while to drink some water, until he found a blackberry bush. He stopped and ate until his stomach almost hurt again, this time from the sweet fruits. His mouth, chin and hands were covered with the fruits' violet and sticky juice. He washed himself in the brook, rubbed his face dry with the already dirty cloth and wiped his wet fingers on his tunic, leaving slightly violet marks of his tiny hands on the silver shirt. He felt rather tired now but decided to walk on. He did not want to stay in the forest for another night. He was afraid of the dark and he missed his Ada. Nonetheless he also was afraid of getting home! _Ada will be very angry with me and maybe he will send me away again and it makes my chest and my head hurt,_ he contemplated sadly. He tried to shake those thoughts off but he just could not get them out of his mind. So his headache got worse again. However, he rather lived in the palace with his angry Ada than living anywhere else without his Ada at all!

The elfling stumbled on for a while until he finally decided to climb on a tree to take a well-deserved break. He slept for an hour or so before he continued his journey. The excitement about eventually finding a way back home was replaced by renewed despair as the brook he followed never seemed to flow into any river at all! 

He had gone on for another two hours until suddenly in some distance he saw a very large tree that seemed utterly familiar to him. He had been here before! He dashed down to the tree which was farther than it had seemed and looked up at the treetop, panting heavily from his sprint. Yes, he knew this tree! He then ran from one tree to the next, overjoyed that he finally had a slight idea of where he was. He knew there must be a clearing somewhere nearby where his Nana and he often had walked to. 

After another half an hour of running he finally found the clearing and the birch tree his Nana and he had always sat on when they had been here. He was so glad at that moment that he tightly hugged the tree as if it was an old friend. Tears of relief rolled down his small face as the tree greeted him whispering comfortingly to him. He climbed up on the tree and sat on his favourite branch. The sun falling through the treetop was soothingly warm on his skin and he smiled. He had not felt so safe for days!

This birch tree had been his Nana's and his secret place. Only they knew of it being "their" place. And Nana had told him that even Ada was not to be told about it because he would get very angry with Nana if he knew she had secretly left the palace without an escort, taking Legolas with her. And now that he had learnt from own experience how right his Nana had been he was glad that he had kept his promise to her and had never told anyone about this place and therefore had never make his Ada be angry with his Nana. 

Such thoughts of course reminded him painfully of how angry Ada had been with him yesterday morning. Sighing sadly once more he leaned his still pounding head against the trunk, closed his eyes and listened to the tree. He could almost hear his Nana's soft soothing voice whispering to him and it felt so good and comforting that he fell asleep within mere minutes, totally exhausted from his run and from the deep sadness that tightened around his chest every time he thought of his Ada. 

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

Thranduil tried to focus his vision. He felt someone shaking his shoulder slightly, but he had to blink several times before he finally could see Lord Elrond leaning over him, smiling. 

Indeed the king must feel better if he slept with his eyes open, the healer from Imladris noticed. 

"How do you feel, mellon nin?" He asked and set down on the edge of the king's bed.

Thranduil mused for a moment, absentmindedly rubbing his left arm. 

"My left side hurts a little bit, but I think I will live. I am fine." He replied honestly, his voice still a little hoarse though.

"Can you sit up? I would like to take a closer look at you." Elrond helped him into a sitting position and assisted him removing his sleeping tunic. He put one hand on the king's left breast and the other one on Thranduil's forehead, closed his eyes and listened intently. After a while he nodded approvingly.

"Mellon nin, I am afraid you are right. You will live." He teased and smiled. Thranduil slightly smiled back, locked eyes with him for a brief moment and noticed that the other elf's smile did not reach his eyes. Something was wrong.

"Elrond, what…" He started and tried to get up, but Elrond gently pushed him back into the pillows.

"Legolas…?" Thranduil murmured anxiously and his heart almost stopped again as he heard Elrond taking a deep worried breath and saw him nod.

"What is it? Elrond, where is my son? Is he ill? You must tell me!" Thranduil demanded anxiously, grabbing the other elf's arm.

"Mellon nin…" Elrond started but did not get any further because Thranduil instantly jumped out of his bed as he heard the deep concern in Elrond's voice. 

"Peace, my friend, easy! Do not overexert yourself! You will be of no use for him if you do that!" Elrond grabbed the other elf by the shoulders and tried to calm him down.

"What is wrong with him, Elrond? Tell me!" Thranduil demanded more angrily now while throwing on his clothes.

"Mellon nin, you have to calm down first, and then I will tell you everything I know." Elrond soothingly squeezed the king's shoulders and led him to a nearby chair.

"Elrond, please, no beating about the bush. I cannot stand that now. Say it straight away!" Thranduil's voice was shaking slightly, worry written all over his fair face.

"Very well, mellon nin. I am sorry to have to tell you that Legolas has gone missing in the forest yesterday." 

"What?!" Thranduil jumped onto his feet again. "How? When? Where?" He shouted, a sickening feeling of fear and guilt tightening around his still slightly hurting chest.

Elrond gestured him to calm down.

"Let us go to your conference room. Mithrandir and the others are waiting there for us. Hador, one of the warriors who were so unfortunate to lose your son while escorting him from the archery ground back to the palace, will fill you in on the details. But please calm down and save your strength, Thranduil. Legolas needs you and you will only be able to help him staying as healthy as possible under the given circumstances. So, please, look after your heart." Elrond admonished gently and Thranduil nodded.

However he did not waste precious time lingering on here in his bedroom while his little squirrel was lost somewhere out there in that cursed forest of his! He more or less ran to his conference room, where he found Gandalf, Lord Bellbeor and twelve of his warriors hovering over a large, detailed map of his realm.

"You!" He yelled at Hador, recognizing him, and grabbed the warrior by the collar.

"Yes, m-my Lord, we, I, he…" Hador swallowed hard. Ooh, he had feared the king's wrath!

"Speak!" Thranduil demanded.

"We, I-I lost him, my Lord…" The warrior replied in a small voice avoiding the unbelieving, incredibly worried glare of his king.

"Where? When? How?" Thranduil was practically shaking the other elf, his booming voice returning to him with full force. 

Elrond and Gandalf exchanged sorrowful looks and each grabbed Thranduil by one of his shoulders.

"My friend…" Elrond's soft voice always seemed to have a bit of a calming effect on the king. Thranduil closed his eyes briefly and inhaled deeply, trying to get his temper under control.

"Tell me everything that has happened – and right now!" He ordered harshly, still glaring at the warrior. Hador swallowed hard once again and took a deep breath. 

"We were on our way back from the archery ground. Prince Legolas had been waiting for our friend Selmacas. But Sel told him that he could not take him with him because he was going to his home settlement to see his family. Legolas seemed a little bit upset about this but did not protest as Férlaes and I took him with us. We were at maximum an hour away from the palace as we had to… well, uhm… take a break. Legolas and I were waiting for my comrade to return and Legolas suggested playing hide and seek. It never occurred to me that he might run away!" Hador explained.

"Dare you not putting the blame on my son! He is far too small to know what danger he would put himself into! He is only a small elfling, by the Valar!" the king interrupted the warrior harshly. 

And suddenly Thranduil's gaze softened as he realized the meaning of his own words. What had he just said? Legolas was only a small elfling…?

"Yes, my Lord, I know, my Lord. And I am not putting the blame on Legolas… I just tried to explain… I mean, he…we… I… could not…uhm…" The guard stuttered, unsure how to proceed. He could not tell the story without putting at least some blame on Legolas. He was a clever little elfling, to say the least.

"I think Legolas plaid a trick on me to get rid of us." He finally managed to say. But Thranduil did not seem to listen at all. He was lost in his own thoughts.

"My Lord?" Hador asked, returning the king's attention to him.

"Beg you pardon?" Thranduil said very gently now and unconsciously let go of Haldor's collar. The warrior relaxed visibly.

"I said, I think Legolas plaid a trick on me to get rid of us, my Lord. He convinced me to play hide and seek while Férlaes was temporarily gone, and somehow the prince managed to disappear unseen and unheard. As I have already said, he wanted to go with Sel. And I think he wanted to get rid of us so he could follow him, so..."

"So he managed to get rid of you." That was a statement not a question, and Thranduil could not help smiling slightly and somewhat proudly considering his son's cleverness. This small elfling clever enough to turn two proud Mirkwood warriors into complete idiots was his son!

"It never crossed your mind that a warrior who happens to guard my son or any other elfling or just any other elf is not supposed to play hide and seek?" He asked, but there was only a slight hint of accusation in his voice.  

Thranduil knew this all was his fault and his fault only. He had quite a good idea why Legolas had wanted to go with Sel. Why his son wanted to leave him. Even though he could not remember exactly what had happened in his study after he had grabbed and shaken his son he could awfully well remember the hurt and scared look on his son's face. And he could understand why Legolas despised him so much that he could not stand being close to him anymore now. His heart almost broke just again at the thought. But he had to be strong now. His son was in danger and needed him!

"My Lord, it is just, Legolas is… he is just so…" Hador stuttered on. He knew he was going to sound completely ridiculous but at least the king did not seem to be as angry now as he had expected him to be. Quite honestly, the king seemed to be amazingly calm.

"He is what?" Thranduil asked curiously, searching the other elf's face.

"He is just so cute." Hador said and blushed, suddenly finding the pattern of the floor very interesting.

"What?" Thranduil questioned, confused. He had not expected such an answer. Not from one of his warriors at least!

"It is just, how could I have possibly rejected him, my Lord?" Hador explained blushing even more. "He looked at me with those big blue eyes of his and he smiled his sweet little smile, looking like an angel… I know this is my fault and I am not making any excuses, my Lord, please believe me, but I simply could not help it. If you pardon the expression, but quite frankly the prince simply is such a sweet mucky little pup." Haldor rambled on nervously.

"Now, where have I heard this before?!" Thranduil threw his arms in the air, shooting Elrond and Gandalf a halfway amused, halfway desperate, surrendering look. 

"So, I assume you have already been out searching for him?" The king asked calmly after a moment of silence, looking at Lord Bellbeor.

"Of course, my Lord. We have been searching since yesterday, early evening and have only returned half an hour ago from Selmacas' home settlement. We have already searched this area on our way to the settlement and that area here on our way back." He drew two invisible circles on the map with his right hand. "Unfortunately we have not found anything yet, not the slightest track, nothing. I am very sorry, my Lord."

"I see." Thranduil pinched the bridge of his nose, thinking. He could not stand the thought that his beloved little squirrel had been spending the night out there all on his own. He would never live if something had happened to Legolas.

"You, go back to your quarters and rest." He instructed the twelve warriors. "Hador, get a new search party ready. I want twenty other, well rested warriors ready to take off in ten minutes. Am I understood?" He went on.

"Yes, my Lord." Hador bowed his head.

"You are dismissed." Thranduil waved him off, but Hador stood there, stunned.

"My Lord?" He gasped in disbelief.

"For now, Hador, for now. Go and rest." Thranduil patted the warrior's shoulder somewhat pityingly and smiled as Hador let out a relieved breath.

"Yes, my Lord." He said and left alongside his eleven fellow warriors.

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

A little noise from beneath woke Legolas from his slumber. He looked down cautiously and saw - a rabbit! He had never seen a wild one, only the few tame ones in the big hutches near the palace's stables! If he could only touch the cute little rabbit once! He swiftly climbed down the tree, but the sound from above frightened the animal and quickly it hopped into the high yellow grass of the large clearing and disappeared into a hole in the ground. Legolas followed, kneeling down before the hole, trying to look into it.

"Come out, little rabbit, I don't hurt you, please, come out again…" He softly whispered in Elvish and after a while the rabbit poked his little head out of his hole. Legolas smiled, holding out his small hand, but not trying to touch the animal yet. He did not want to push it. He just wanted to let the rabbit check him out to assure it he was no foe. Slowly the cute little animal checked the prince's fingertips, which still were slightly violet from the blackberries. The rabbit worked its way forth his hand, then the rather dirty sleeve of his shirt and finally his face as Legolas cautiously lowered himself on the ground, his head next to the small creature. He giggled when the rabbit's nose touched his cheek and it tickled him. But suddenly, without any warning, the creature fled back into its hole. Legolas was startled. And quite alarmed at that since, no matter how young he was, he knew full well it had not been him that had frightened his new little friend. Slowly he turned around, his senses on full alert now.

A wolf had entered the clearing not far away from him, holding its nose high in the air, snuffling, checking the area. Then it went back in the woods, only to return a few moments later. Legolas could not see properly what was going on because he tried to hide in the high grass at the same time, his heart beating madly in his chest, his toy bow firmly clenched in his hands. Never before had he seen a wolf. He had just heard the stories of the dangerous animals - oh well, eating elflings! He shuddered a little at the thought. As he still could not see anything he tried to concentrate on his keen hearing. He heard the soft footsteps of the great animal getting closer to him. Not good. But there was also a little rustling sound and some sort of joyful, playful whimpering. 

_It's a wolf family! _He finally concluded, getting a bit excited about it. _A she-wolf with her babies!_

Legolas quickly scanned his brain for any information on female wolves and if a she-wolf provided any danger. He had only heard stories of big bad, black male wolves! And this one was not even black, no, only a grey one! It couldn't be that bad then, could it? And she was of course female! And she had some sweet little cubs with her! No, she couldn't be dangerous! Finally his inquisitive, curious elfling self won over and he slowly got back on his feet. 

The she-wolf froze and locked eyes with Legolas. Now as he saw her looking at him like that he was not so sure anymore whether female wolves really were not dangerous at all. He swallowed hard. What could he do now? It was too late to hide somewhere, she had seen him and she was only a few metres away. Running away? Not an option, he was not a coward and turning his back on the beast did not seem the best thing to do, either! He sighed slightly, thinking, if he had to be eaten by a wolf, so be it. There was nothing he could do. Trying to shoot her with his toy bow seemed mean to him because she had babies and he did not want to kill their nana! Remembering his encounter with the funny bunny and also remembering the way he could talk with Labahû, who looked a bit like a wolf, he thought, why not try that here, too. After all, this wolf seemed to be some sort of dog, too. Casting all his fears aside, he slowly approached the she-wolf who watched him cautiously, slightly baring her teeth as he got too close for her comfort. Legolas stopped.

"Hello… my friend… My name is Legolas… I don't hurt you. I don't hurt your babies… Hello, you want to smell me? Don't be afraid… come here… smell me…" He whispered to her in elvish and his angelic voice calmed the animal as much as himself. Just like he had done it a few moments ago he reached out his hand, palm up, to give her the chance to check him out. He was on his all fours or better said threes now, leaning his weight on his unoccupied hand, waiting patiently for the she-wolf to come closer, showing her he was not planning an attack on her or her offspring. Still she looked at him, not moving as so much as an inch. Legolas risked a quick glimpse at the cubs. Sweet, little ones, three of them! He smiled softly and looked up again, the mother's bright green-brown eyes locking with his blue-silver depths. 

Slowly she finally approached him. She could not smell any danger or fear here. This strange animal in front of her seemed to be kind, his eyes were pure love and awe and he was radiating peace and no evil at all. She did not consider him a threat. And fortunately for Legolas she did not consider him a good meal, either, as she quite simply really did not know what he was. Actually Legolas seemed to be some sort of cub to her, somehow, but there was no mother animal with him. But still there was something vulnerable about him, in these big lovely eyes looking at her. She was soothed by the fact that he did not seem to be afraid of her, so…one more step forward… Her warm wet nose touched the soft skin of his small hand and she smelled that this one was young, quite young in deed and finally her mother instincts got started! Just like she would never do any harm to any other wolf's cubs she would not hurt this one here, either. No, she would protect him as he seemed to be a little bit lost. She softly licked Legolas fingers, finally loosening the tension that had held her back when she had seen him.

Much to Legolas' joy, the three little cubs were not as cautious as their mother and when they saw her licking his fingers, obviously trusting him, they began to jump on him and to lick his neck and chin, biting him slightly in their attempt to convince him to play with them. Legolas smiled brilliantly. They were so sweet and cute and they liked him! It was like a miracle for him! Happily he stroked their soft grey furs, giggling about their funny reaction when he stroked the soft spot behind their ears. He radiated so much happiness that the mother wolf simply had to lick him across the face to show him her affection. He laughed wholeheartedly, and it sounded like the stars and the moon and the sun were laughing and singing with him. 

He was so happy at this moment! He only wished his Ada was here and could play with them, too. Hugging the she-wolf's neck carefully, not too tightly as that might frighten her, and stroking her fur, he kissed her soft nose, and she licked his face once more. The three little puppies jumped up at both of them excitedly and managed to pin Legolas down to the ground with their weights. He could not stop laughing. Slowly he got back on his feet, running a bit, and the cubs followed him quickly, softly biting his heels to bring him down - again, so they could jump on him – again and lick his sweet face – again and again and again.

The she-wolf lay down and watched the four young ones play. And actually she somehow seemed to be relieved that her babies had finally found a new victim to torment. She raised her head from time to time, holding her nose in the wind, smelling, checking the air for any danger, but there was nothing threatening in it. She listened to the happy laughter of her new family member and the playful whimpering of her babies and relaxed.

Legolas was so glad he completely forgot about his sorrows at home and he also had totally lost track of time. Therefore he was a bit surprised as he finally realized that the sun had already begun to set behind the far mountains and it was getting dark again. He suddenly stopped laughing, froze and looked up to the already grey sky. The cubs headed to their mother's side under a tree that stood, surrounded by some protecting bushes, at the edge of the clearing, offering enough space for the small family and also providing a good view across the field. Legolas stood and watched. He had been a brave little elfling for the most part of the day, but now he felt rather hungry and tired again and the idea of spending another night in the woods all alone, in the darkness, frightened him. As if she knew what Legolas was going through, the she-wolf approached him and comfortingly licked his face once more. He looked at her with sad eyes, feeling suddenly very sad and lost again. Carefully she took his sleeve between her teeth and gently dragged him along to the tree where her babies waited for them. The elfling lay down and curled himself into a small ball next to her, his head resting slightly against her chest. He cradled the three little puppies in his arms and listened to the steady beating of the she-wolf's heart beneath his ear. It comforted him and somehow it told him he would be safe and she would not allow anyone or anything to hurt him tonight. After a while he finally fell asleep, his last thought on his father… _Ada__, I wish you were here. Please forgive me…_

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

"LEGOLAS?!!!"

"Legolas?!!" 

"Legolas?!"

King Thranduil's booming voice echoed through the woods as he, Lord Elrond, Gandalf and the twenty warriors walked beneath the tall trees, again searching every inch of the forest for a sign or hint or track that might lead them to the lost little prince. They had decided for Lord Bellbeor to stay at the palace and take care of the king's daily business that had gotten slightly out of hand in the course of the last two days. There were dispatches to read, border patrols to coordinate and several other things to deal with.

The party had been searching for hours now without success. The fact that Legolas would have to spend another night out there on his own if they did not find him soon upset all of them. Apart from the danger he might be in right now they especially disliked the idea because Legolas was way too young to not be scared halfway to death out there all on his own. As brave as children were doing things on their own during daylight, it was a completely different story in the darkness of the night! They all assumed the elfling would have had at least tried to return home if he could have. So probably he simply could not? This question was nagging awfully at the backs of everyone's mind.

The idea of his little son out there, alone, in these dangerous woods, in the darkness, worried Thranduil to no ends. He listened to the trees intently, hoping they would give him any hint as to where his son was, but they were just whispering grateful thanks for the beautiful sunny day and the soft evening breeze. As much as he usually would love to listen to such more or less light-hearted murmur he actually was this close to freak out and cut down the next unlucky tree that happened to tell him what a nice day it had been today!

"If something has happened to him, I will never forgive myself." Thranduil muttered under his breath but Lord Elrond, walking only a few metres next to his right side, had heard him just as well as if he had said it out loud.

"Thranduil, do not despair yet. So far I could not feel or see or hear any danger beneath these trees. I am certain he is alright. The trees would have told you if he was not…" He comforted though he could hardly believe in his own words.

"I wish I could believe that, mellon nin, but I am so…" Thranduil paused, he was not sure if he really wanted to confess how scared and frightened and guilty he felt. After all he was supposed to be the strong, proud Elvenking of Mirkwood and not the emotional wreck he seemed to be lately. He felt he had already displayed too much weakness in front of Elrond and Mithrandir recently anyway.

They walked on for quite a while, not talking and only calling out for Legolas from time to time.

It was well past midnight as Mithrandir suddenly stopped dead in his tracks and stared at the canopy for several minutes without even blinking once.

Thranduil and Elrond swiftly walked over to him, hoping he had found something, but the wizard just stared at thin air.

"Mithrandir?" The king touched his shoulder slightly and Gandalf started.

"Ah, I know you are scared, young one. But I have a feeling there is much more about your son than you and all of us may give him credit for. Just as he already has proven to us those two days ago." Gandalf said, patting Thranduil's back. "We might be surprised to find what power that little one has about some creatures." He muttered lowly and walked on smiling more to himself than to anyone else.

"What do you mean, Mithrandir?" Thranduil advanced him again, a pleading look in his eyes. "Do you feel anything? Can you foresee something? Mithrandir, please tell me! Please… Do you know where he is? Is he hurt? Is he safe? Please tell me…" It was obvious how great the king's despair was, and right now he could not care less to keep on pretending he would not die right here and now if that would mean his son was safe - because quite honestly he rather would if it meant Legolas was alive.

It was then that Lord Elrond realized with concern that, if really something should have happened to Legolas, this proud, strong elven warrior king ultimately would break down and simply shatter into thousand tiny pieces. He had never thought his friend could ever have such a strong feeling about anyone ever. Even not after their long talk two days ago had he looked at him in such a way. And either not after what Lord Bellbeor had told them about his king earlier that day had he truly believed Thranduil's will to live would depend on his son's safety and health – and only on it. But now Lord Elrond realized that he had been wrong. And it made him feel sick in the stomach. How could he have misjudged his friend so badly?

"Yes, Mithrandir, tell us, please!" He heard himself say, surprised by the sudden urge in his own voice. Gandalf shot him a somewhat puzzled look, but then smiled that knowing smile of his.

"Well, my friends, I have reason to believe the little one is safe for now." He said, mused for a brief moment and looked up into Thranduil's wide eyes again. "I suggest we make camp right here. There is no use searching on in the darkness, glooming elves or not. We will not find him tonight." With that he turned around, sat down on a nearby log, laid his staff across his lap and lit his pipe.

Thranduil was stunned – as was Elrond, which was quite a rare case for the latter, to say the least. But they had always trusted Mithrandir. And if the Istar said they would not find Legolas tonight, then there might be some truth in that. Nonetheless did the king only reluctantly summon his warriors to make camp for the remainder of the night. 

Finding the inner strength to do so was one thing, of course, finding the inner peace to sleep was a totally different story though! Only a few of them slept that night. Most of them simply lay on their bedrolls and listened to the trees surrounding them. None of them wanted to miss any hint that the trees might give them in the middle of the night.

Thranduil stared at the canopy, praying countless times his son was safe. There were no stars to be seen tonight, heavy clouds blocking them out from view, and the king ached badly for the little comfort the stars usually offered him.

"Oh, Legolas, please do not leave me! I will never hurt you ever again, I will not let you down ever again, if only you come back to me safely! If only you are alright!" Thranduil murmured inaudibly under his breath. 

He was so afraid of losing his son, his only true treasure, his only joy, his only reason to live. And he felt so guilty and angry with himself he hardly could breath. Why was it that he seemed to be unable to protect the ones he loved?

How many times had he told his wife not to walk into the forest unaccompanied? And how many times had she rolled her eyes at him, laughing sweetly, when he pleaded her to take some of his warriors with her? And yet the one day she had obeyed if only for a change and took some guards with her, was the one day she had been killed. Why had he ever let her go in this trip? Why had he not stopped her? Why had he felt so damn safe that nothing could happen to her as long as there were guards around? Why had he not seen this coming? Why had he not been able to protect her? Why had he not been able to save her? Why, why, why?

He tossed around on his right side, turning his back on the others, staring at the silver ring on his left hand. It was their wedding ring, just one more of those little things which would always remind him of the fact that his she was gone, forever gone. Every night he remembered how it had felt when she had been next to him in their bed, her head resting on his shoulder, one arm tightly wrapped around his waist, her chest rising and falling in her peaceful slumber, a soft smile playing around her beautiful lips. Every night he remembered the sweet smell of her golden hair - exactly like Legolas' hair smelled. 

And every night he remembered the summer evening they had conceived Legolas in a hot spontaneous act in a clearing under a large birch tree only a few hours away from the palace. He remembered her lips' taste on his mouth and her happy angelic laughter when she had kissed him and told him that she was indeed carrying their child, their son beneath her heart. He remembered the day Legolas was born and how much that day had changed their both lives. Never before they had been happier, never before had their immortal lives ever made more sense to them.

And suddenly his anger faded into nothingness, emptiness. Oh, how much he needed Legolas! Why could he not just come running around the next corner and fly into his open arms and laugh when he would whirl him through the air like he had done so many times before?

"My little squirrel, I wish you were here. Please forgive me." He whispered breathlessly, almost expecting, hoping he would get an answer, but there was nothing. Nothing but silence. Painful silence and emptiness. He closed his eyes, trying hard to fight back the tears. 

And of course he failed – just exactly like every night in the past twelve months.


	8. Father and Son Chapter 8

**Disclaimer:** See chapter 1, please! Basically it says I own nothing! *sniff*

**Beta:** Not betaed by Akedhi yet, but revised by myself. Yes, after re-reading the beta-version of chapter 5 I've been able to figure some mistakes out by myself. ;)  
  


**Additional A/N:** Sorry for this rather short chapter, but updates will follow briefly! :)

**Warnings:** Evil cliffie ahead! *eg*

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

**Father and Son – Chapter 8**

It was in the early morning hours when Legolas started with a little yawn as he felt something wet touching his cheek. He blinked to clear his dozy vision and looked up to see what it was. He smiled as he found himself looking straight into the bright green-brown eyes of the mother wolf. He stroked her sides with his small hands and kissed her nose.

"Good morning…" He said softly, admiring the beauty of the animal in front of him. She remained at his side for a while, but then she turned around, ran into the clearing, stopped and looked back over her shoulder at him, waiting. Legolas understood. She wanted him to come with her. He mused for a moment. He was thirsty and rather hungry again but he simply could not resist the idea to spend a few more precious moments with the wolves. He was less eager to get home now that he knew the way back and felt safer out here in the forest. It would not make such a big difference now if he would spend some more time with his new friends before finally going home, would it? His Ada would be angry with him either way. He sighed, picked up his toy bow, quiver and bag from where he had forgotten it yesterday during his play time with the cubs and followed the she-wolf. 

It was a somewhat windy morning and the sun had not risen high enough yet to clear the fine mist that hung over the grass. Legolas' rather dirty clothes got slightly wet from the morning dew as he strode through the grass and a little chill ran down his spine as the wind blew through his tunic.

On the other side of the clearing some ten feet into the trees Legolas found a very small pond. He kneeled down to catch some water in the palms of his small hands and drank the clear cool liquid thirstily. The three little cubs were happily running after each other, stumbling over Legolas heel in their game and playfully dashing back into the clearing, followed by their more cautious mother. Legolas quickly washed his face and got up to run right after the wolves, when a strange sound from above startled him. He stopped dead in his tracks and looked up. 

Blinking through the branches above him he saw a strange, black cloud rushing over the trees. An ugly shriek coming from that cloud made him shiver through and through and all his senses were on full alert. He could feel danger and evil with each and every fibre of his small body. His gaze followed the cloud that was heading towards the clearing …circling above it … and then crashing down! He held his breath, shocked. _Oh, no, the wolves! _He panicked and without second thought, rushed forward, crying some sort of alarm, but it was already too late. With horror he saw black, crow-like birds attacking the four animals. 

The she-wolf stood protectively over her offspring, baring her teeth dangerously, growling, snapping, biting, but she was outnumbered by the ugly evil birds. They were advancing her from all sides now, pecking their thick, sharp beaks in her flesh, making her whimper in pain, the three cubs huddled up beneath her were trembling badly. She stumbled sideways, still trying everything to fight the attackers and protecting her children. She caught one bird, killing it instantly, then a second one, but it cost her much of her already fading energy. The birds were now pecking on her legs, bringing her down on one side, providing themselves full access to her belly and even worse for her to her cubs.

Legolas ran across the field as fast as his short legs carried him, yelling madly. He stumbled and fell several times in his frantic attempt to get to the wolves as the ground was bumpy and the high slippery grass did not help matters, either. But never did he stop shouting at the birds to get off! He finally reached the fighting scene and tried to notch one of his toy arrows, but his hands were shaking too badly, so instead he started throwing his arrows at the birds. That however did not bother them the slightest bit. He hastily moved around to recollect his arrows to try notching one once again as his silver shirt suddenly reflected a beam of sunlight that broke through the clouds. Shrieking, the birds fled into the sky, but remained circling above the wolves and the elfling, contemplating the new situation from a safer distance now.

Legolas let go of his toy bow, arrows and quiver and kneeled down next to the softly whimpering, heavily bleeding she-wolf. He stroked her face soothingly, big tears rolling down his cheeks. He whispered to her in comforting elvish words but could not help himself sobbing out loud when he saw two of the little cubs lay pecked to death next to their severely injured mother. She looked up, sensing Legolas' distress and locked eyes with him. Her glance was sad, helpless and full of pain and despair as she knew she was not going to make it and what that would mean for her remaining cub in the end. And Legolas knew that look in her eyes as he had seen it somewhere else before. And although it had only been once he would never forget it in his entire life. The trembling elfling lied down next to her, leaning his head against her neck, desperately holding her head in his arms– as if that could make her stay, as if that would keep her soul from leaving her weak, dying body.

"Don't go, please, don't leave me! Please, I get my Ada and he will make you better! Oh, Ada, please, please help me…" He sobbed out frantically, tears streaming down his sad little face, his shoulders trembling. The remaining cub cradled itself into Legolas' lap, whimpering fearfully.

The she-wolf turned her head as far as she could and gently licked Legolas' tears away. Then, with one last soundless breath and glimpse on her cub, she passed away. 

It all had gone too fast and it all was quite too much for both the young elfling and the wolf cub to bear. Their natural self-protective systems failed them completely now and both of them did not realize that the evil birds where still about to attack them again. 

An ear splitting shriek from above snatched Legolas from of his foggy-minded state. He knew instantly that he and his little friend still were in enormous danger. Merely running on instincts now he clutched the cub in his arms, pressed it tightly against his chest and bent his head over the small body to protect the little one from the bird's view with his own head and his long blond hair. 

Then Legolas started running towards the trees on the other site of the clearing, heading homeward. The thought of finally reaching home and the protection of his Ada again pushed him forward, making him run even faster. 

But it was a wide clearing and his legs were so short... There was enough time for the birds to attack again. They crashed down on the elfling, pecking him in his back, head, arms and even legs, but he did not stop once. He must be strong now or they would kill his little friend, they would kill the last cub, too. If he would stop now, in the open field… they would be lost. 

Even though his small body screamed in pain, bleeding almost everywhere already, he kept on running, running, running. The adrenaline rushed through his veins and numbed the pain from his injuries. He finally reached the trees, but his hopes to get rid of the birds with the help of the trees did not come true. 

The birds clung to him nevertheless. There were fewer now, as the trees did not provide enough space for all of them to attack the elfling without getting hurt themselves, but still there were too many of them and they kept on pecking Legolas. 

The brave little elfling did not give up however. He was very familiar with the area now and knew every bush, every tree, every branch – and the evil monster birds did not. It helped him to get rid of them from time to time, when they were punched off of his back by a low branch he could duck. Even if it was only for a brief moment, at least he could regain some strength then. He hugged the cub tighter and ran even faster.

Suddenly he stumbled over a root and fell on his knees. He struggled back on his feet immediately but the black evil birds advanced him from all sides now, with all their force, shrieking in his sensitive ears and pecking, pecking, pecking violently in his soft flesh.

"Ada…" He cried breathlessly. "Ada, please help me!"


	9. Father and Son Chapter 9

**Disclaimer:** See chapter 1, please. Basically it says I own nothing!

**Beta:** Not betaed by Akedhi yet, but revised by myself. Yes, after re-reading the beta-version of chapter 5 I've been able to figure some mistakes out by myself. ;)

**Response to reviews: **Thank you all for encouraging me to keep on writing! :)****

**Pegasus**, Thanks for your, uhm, let's call it "friendly flaming". :) Don't mind I was not hurt by your words but nonetheless I'd like to set records straight. 

First, I did not say these birds were crows or crebains from Dunland which Saruman used as spies. Where did you get that idea from? I just said they were "crow-like" birds. That simply means that they _look_ like crows, it doesn't mean they _are_ crows. Actually they are far from being crows or normal birds at all, that is, as will be revealed by Gandalf in a later chapter. You will also find out why they attack the wolves in that chapter. :) Besides, I may quote: "_Crows: __Black carrion birds associated in Tolkien's work with the forces of darkness." The Encyclopaedia of Arda._ Considering this, I think it would be ok to use crows acting as evil creatures in a LOTR-fanfic. But as I've said before, "my" birds are not really crows. You'll learn more soon, I promise :)

Second, of course a mother wolf is much more dangerous than a lonely male wolf, that was the whole point! :) We (you, other readers and I) know it but little Legolas doesn't know it, at least not in this story, because he has not had proper lessons yet and still has a lot to learn about the animals dwelling in his father's woods. He's a small elfling and a quite naïve one at that, at least in this situation. I thought it would be clear that I was being a bit sarcastic on his rather innocent ideas concerning female wolves. Sorry if it wasn't clear enough! :/ However, the fact that he is able to befriend even a mother wolf and her offspring makes the situation so very special. And that's what I wanted to tell here: that Legolas is a very special little wood-elfling who could even befriend an overprotective, usually slightly over-aggressive mother wolf! :) 

Third, apart from the fact that considering this is Mirkwood I think it wouldn't be totally out of line to have something abnormal like a stray single mother wolf wandering through this cursed forest, I promise you that there is a reason why this wolf is alone! You just have to wait and read the next few chapters! Everything will be revealed there! :) 

You were simply a little bit too fast with your criticism about the birds and wolves here :). Believe me, I am certainly not someone just writing down what's swimming in my head without thinking about it twice and third and turning an idea over and over again to make sure there's as much logic to it as possible. Nobody is perfect though, mind you, and I think it's forgivable when an author is slightly illogical – there are two words for it: "poetic licence". :)

For the proper English comment: Thanks for pointing those mistakes out to me. :) As I've said in my A/N English is not my native language and honestly I wasn't aware that "You guys" is not proper English. *sigh* I still have a lot to learn in English.

Please read the updated A/N at the beginning of this story for comments about why I thought a beating or spanking (which is actually what I thought of when I wrote about a beating, I just didn't know that verb, either! *argh*) might be possible amongst elves.

Pooh, that's it for now, I think. And don't worry I haven't been hurt by your words as I could see that you were simply just thinking/reacting too fast! :) If something at all I'm only disappointed with myself for obviously not being able to make things such as the "birds/crows"-issue clearer and that my English is not as good as I hoped. *sniff*

It's encouraging however, to see, that even though you think I've messed up the facts you still enjoyed reading my stuff! *grin*

And now, on with the story…

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

**Father and Son – Chapter 9**

It was before dawn that King Thranduil, Lord Elrond, Mithrandir and the troop got up and continued their search for the lost little elfling. 

They worked their way through the forest, heading into the direction of the clearing Thranduil had thought of in the night because for some strange reasons pictures of that clearing constantly had been flashing through the king's mind as soon as he had awoken from a light slumber this morning and he had felt the desperate urge to head down there. 

They had walked and searched for about an hour as suddenly the forest grew still. The searchers walked on but strained their ears to listen as the trees started to tremble and groan, a suddenly appearing wind rustling through their leaves. 

Thranduil stopped dead in his tracks, staring at the canopy. 

Cold shivers ran down his spine as the icy breeze blew against him, and his heart clenched awfully in his chest. He could hear his child's horrified sobs carried along the painful moan of the air. He could hear his son's laboured breathing and he could almost feel the unnatural rapid, fearful beating of Legolas' little heart in his own. The mere sounds were so brutal to him that his whole body ached instantly and tears stung in his eyes. 

"Legolas…" He breathlessly gasped in terror, his fair face now deathly pale.

Out of nothing he broke into a frantic run - followed by his stunned friends and warriors. Even though all of them had heard the trees whispering of danger and fear they had not heard or felt what Legolas' father had. 

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

Legolas could not help crying almost hysterically now. 

Finally the pain had overpowered the adrenaline and his small body was hurting all over. Tears, pain and fear clouded his vision as he stumbled on.

He reached thick undergrowth and without hesitation he jumped into it, hoping the birds could not attack him in there. He was proved right as most of the evil beasts flinched back and only two smaller ones kept on attacking him, ripping off his hair, biting his delicately pointed ears, while the other birds hovered above the undergrowth, shrieking in protest at the loss of their prey.

Crawling with the cub in his arms was a difficult task, but somehow Legolas managed to move forward on his knees and one hand. He did not dare to stop with the two birds still clinging to him.

After a while too short for his liking he reached the end of the undergrowth and hesitated. If he would leave the protection of the undergrowth now he would be easy prey for the birds again – on the other hand every nerve in his small hurting body screamed for him to run as fast and as far away from here as possible.

He looked around frantically, trying to shake off the two birds at the same time, and spotted another area of thick undergrowth further down a small path he had not noticed before. _I must get there, _he thought desperately.

Clapping his left arm over his head in an attempt to block the painful attacks of the birds he stood up and rushed forward, his the other arm still tightly wrapped around the whimpering cub pressed against his chest.

The birds crushed down on him again as soon as he left the protection of the bushes. He had to bend further down in order to protect both, the cub and his vulnerable belly, as they advanced him from the front. His blocking arm was bleeding severely now but at least the birds could not peck his head and not rip off his hair anymore. They slammed into his shoulders, legs and back though, obviously trying to bring him down. It was clear to him, that they wanted the cub – not him – and he clutched the small animal even tighter.

"Ada…" He sobbed out again and again. "Ada, Ada, please help me!" 

Another root got in his way and he almost fell, almost gave in, but then he heard the booming voice of his father echoing through the wood… 

"LEGOLAS!!!"

A trace of unexpected relief flared up in him and pushed him to move on even faster.

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

"LEGOLAS!!!" Thranduil yelled while running as fast as he could. He still could not see his son anywhere, but he knew he must be near.

"Ada!" came a tiny cry.

There it was! The one voice he had been prayed for to answer since he could not remember when. The angelic sound he had feared he would never have the joy hearing again. But the pain, sadness and horror in his little son's voice almost tore him in two. He sped up, rushing forward below a small slope that was too high for him to jump on or look over. He knew, his son was somewhere on the other side of it.

And although he already knew Legolas was in great danger and terrible pain, he had never expected to see what his view was provided with when he turned around the corner of the slope.

He almost died right there and then. Legolas stumbled across the small path towards him, upper body bent down, some sort of grey bundle pressed to his chest, while eight strange black-feathered birds attacked him, pecking, pecking, pecking. His face was dirty and wet from tears and blood, his eyes wide with fear, a dark bruise on his forehead making his skin look horrifying pale. His small body was covered with bruises and cuts as far as Thranduil could see, and blood as well as green, brown, and violet stains marked his torn tunic and leggings.

Thranduil dashed to his little son, fell to his knees as he reached him and pulled him into his embrace as tightly as possible, hitting the birds away from Legolas with one strong arm, the other one firmly wrapped around the shivering small form of his son. Protectively he pulled his large cloak over him. He bent further down to cover Legolas completely with his own body, protecting him against the birds, which now, of course, attacked the king.

The warriors, bows ready and arrows notched, stood and watched in disbelief. They could not shoot the birds – if they did they would risk their king's life! Some of them immediately drew their swords instead but stopped in their attempts to get to the king as Gandalf stepped forward and rammed his staff into the ground with all his might.  

The earth shook a little as the top end of Gandalf's staff was ignited with a blinding, bright, even almost deafening white light. The birds shrieked in horror and fled.

And suddenly all was still. 

Not one single leaf rustled in the mighty blow of the wizard's staff.

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

"Ada…" Legolas' soft sob and a low whimper brought them all back to consciousness. Only Thranduil did not move.

"Ai, Elbereth!" Lord Elrond rushed forward and kneeled next to the king, softly touching Thranduil's right, slightly bleeding shoulder, but staring at Legolas in shock. The king was still somehow blocking the birds' attack, bending over his child and pressing him tightly against his chest with closed eyes.

Thranduil started at the touch of Elrond's hand and opened his eyes. He glimpsed down on Legolas and pulled him a little away from himself so he could take a proper look at him. Father and son locked eyes, and Legolas tried very hard to get his sobbing under control but it was futile. All this had been too much for the little elfling and now that he was safe the last traces of strength evaded him. He wailed helplessly.

"Oh my dear sweet, little squirrel." Thranduil sobbed out breathlessly and pulled his son back into his tight, warm embrace. He was still unaware of the precious burden in Legolas' arms and the trouble he caused the wolf cub when he held his son so tightly. The cub could hardly breathe and squirmed in Legolas arms until its small whimper startled the elder elf and he pulled away again, looking down on his son.

"A wolf cub!" Lord Elrond cried in surprise, shooting Gandalf a puzzled look over the king's head. The wizard moved closer, kneeling next to Legolas, smiling at the young prince who quite honestly looked like as if he had been thrown into a mincer.

"Ah, there, so you have found a new friend, hm, little one?" Gandalf asked gently and stroked Legolas' head affectionately as the child took a deep steadying breath and nodded, looking incredible sad. The wizard took the trembling cub from Legolas in one of his large strong hands, calming it instantly. But Legolas still cried.

"Th-the b-birds… th-they killed… the nana… and, and… two… and then…" Legolas gasped, his shoulders trembling terribly. The mere look was so heart-rending that even Gandalf, Elrond and the warriors could feel tears stinging in their eyes. 

"Th-they w-want…k-kill him, too." The elfling wailed on, frantically rubbing his left eye with his tiny bloody fist, his voice faltering. "I… I… ran… was so… hard…pecked me… and… and…oh, ada, ada… please, don't…angry…me…please, don't send me away again…" The small elfling threw himself back into Thranduil's tight hug and faint.

"My little squirrel!" Thranduil sobbed out and cradled Legolas in his arms, his heart breaking once again. What had he done? What only had he done to his little son?

Lord Elrond squeezed his good shoulder firmly. "Mellon nin, I must tend to his wounds!" The healer said as he stood up and spread his bedroll over the forest ground. Thranduil only nodded and gently lowered the limp body of the tiny elf on the soft blanket. He carefully undressed the elfling, taking off Legolas' tunic, his eyes not leaving his son's face once, while Lord Elrond took off the child's boots and leggings.

Meanwhile three of the warriors started building a fire as they knew from own experience that the healer would need hot water and Legolas most likely would need the extra warmth, too. When they were done Mithrandir charged them to take care of the little wolf cub for he wanted to assist Elrond seeing to the prince's wounds.

The healer from Imladris worked quickly and with greatly experienced skills, cleaning wounds, stitching cuts, rubbing in ointments, bandaging legs, arms, hands, head and back. As soon as he had administrated to every wound, he wrapped Legolas up in Thranduil's cloak. All this happened with the help from Mithrandir and under the watchful eyes of the elfling's father, who could do nothing but gently and soothingly caress his son's pale cheeks.

"He feels so cold…" Thranduil murmured, worried, still not looking up from his son. Lord Elrond reached out his hand and touched Legolas' face and a deep frown darkened his features. – The elfling was not cold. He was icy!

"Give me your blankets." He told the two warriors, who stood closest to him. They obeyed instantly and Elrond wrapped Legolas up in the two more blankets. Gently he laid his hand on the child's forehead, closed his eyes and listened deeply. Without any warning the healer's eyes snapped open and he stood.

"We must make back for the palace with greatest haste."  He said, with a slightly shaking voice, gesturing for Thranduil to lift Legolas up. The other elf nodded and gently gathered the tightly wrapped up elfling in his arms.

The king, the healer and the wizard as well as most of the warriors started running back to Thranduil's palace, while three warriors put out the fire and started to clean the forest ground from the burnt wood.

Thranduil was running as quickly as possible considering Legolas' rather weakened state and only stopped when Lord Elrond wanted to check on the prince from time to time. If possible the frown on the Noldor elf's brow grew deeper and deeper with each time he reached out for Legolas' spirit. 

As they hurried forward Elrond slowed down a bit to move to the rear end of the group, so that he was out of earshot from Thranduil, who was in the lead of the party once again and did not notice Elrond's move.

Gandalf, however, read the signs the healer sent out to him, slowed down, too, and came up right beside Elrond.

"Something concerns you greatly, young one," the Istar stated, fearing he already knew what bothered his friend. He and Elrond exchanged worried glances and the healer nodded. 

"The prince is fading." He whispered hoarsely, swallowing down the lump in his throat.****


	10. Father and Son Chapter 10

**Disclaimer:** See chapter 1, please. Basically it says I own nothing *sniffsniff*

**Beta:** Not betaed by Akedhi yet, but revised by myself. Yes, after re-reading the beta-version of chapter 5 I've been able to figure some mistakes out by myself.

Peace, my dear reviewers, everything will be alright, unless, errh… mhm *eg* ;) Hehe. No, just read and I'm sure you'll be fine! Actually I wanted this chapter to be longer, but I decided to split the stuff I had already written some days ago up, because I didn't have the time to revise all of it today and I didn't want you to die from anticipation or so… ;) Now I hope you will not be bored to death by this rather slow and fluffy chapter. :)

Anyways, here's chapter 10 for you! 

:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

**Father and Son – Chapter 10**

After what seemed an eternity to Thranduil but was merely a little more than two hours, the search party finally reached the palace. They passed the saluting sentries at the great gate and hurried up the stony stairs to the main entrance. There the group split up.

Thranduil, Elrond and Mithrandir headed towards the infirmary wing while the soldiers went to look for Lord Bellbeor whom they found in the great hall discussing some matters with another of Thranduil's advisors. He immediately finished the conversation and quickly led the troop to the conference room to hear the warriors' report. 

:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

As soon as the door to the infirmary rooms swung open, and the healers saw their king approach with a green-brown bundle in his arms, they got into action, fetching new firewood, water and herbs. 

Thranduil went straight into a separated healing room, the "King's room", and lowered his son on the only bed in the large chamber. Meanwhile Elrond informed the other healers what would be needed and handed one of them a small pack of his own herbs. Then he hurried to see to Legolas once more.

Thranduil gazed down on the little elfling that was his son. Legolas looked so incredible small and vulnerable, lying there with his eyes closed, the dark bruise on his forehead and some small cuts on his left cheek pronouncing awfully how pale he was. The king needed every bit of strength not to break down crying right here and now. 

Lord Elrond came to a halt behind Thranduil and gently pushed the slightly panting king out of his way, catching his own breath from their frantic run. Carefully the healer from Imladris unwrap Legolas from the blankets, Thranduil's cloak and the bandages to examine the wounds of the elfling's tiny body once again. 

One of Thranduil's healers entered the room, carrying two bowls of hot steaming water. Quickly Elrond crushed some leaves of a certain herb in one of them and set the bowl on the small table next to the bed, fanning the steam into Legolas' direction.  The sweet smell of Athelas filled the room and even the uninjured elves and the wizard could feel the soothing, healing power of the herb. Thranduil's injured shoulder stopped throbbing immediately.

The cuts from the birds' pecks looked strange, Elrond noticed as he once more cleaned Legolas' wounds and rubbed some ointments in the prince's soft skin. Although the cuts were already more or less closed and Elrond's salves had obviously prevented them from getting infected the skin around the cuts was oddly blue and icy cold to the touch. Elrond had seen something like that before, but only on wounds that had closed while being exposed to extreme cold. He tilted his head, irritated, and glimpsed at Gandalf who stood on the other side of the bed and looked awfully knowing. Elrond made a mental note to question the wizard later, when Thranduil was not with them. 

The healer who had brought the water and then had left the room, now returned with a mug of a warm draught Elrond had instructed him to make. Elrond took it from him and handed it out to Thranduil. 

"Help your little one to drink this. It shall help to stabilize him." He said, and Thranduil took the mug and sat down on the edge of the bed.

Gently he lifted Legolas sideways on his lap and carefully brought the elfling's upper body in a more or less sitting position, leaning his small head against his broad chest. Supporting Legolas' back with his upper left arm, he reached around his son's neck with his left forearm and hand and gently held the tiny chin. Carefully he pressed against the cheeks with his thumb and index finger, so that Legolas would reflexively open his little jaw. Thranduil lifted the cup to Legolas' lips and cautiously poured a small amount of the liquid into his mouth. He tilted the child's head back a little, so that Legolas automatically swallowed. He repeated this action several times until Elrond gestured him Legolas' had drunk enough and took the mug away from him. 

Thranduil shot him a heartbreaking pleading look, and Elrond smiled slightly. He knew his friend did not want to be in the healer's way but he did not want to let go of Legolas, either.

"It is well, mellon nin, just hold him, he can make good use of the extra warmth." Elrond said, pulling a soft blanket over Legolas' tiny body, tucking him in.

He sat down on the other side of the bed and laid his slender hands on Legolas' small forehead and chest and listened. He managed to suppress a desperate sigh as he felt how far away Legolas' spirit already was, wandering its path to the Halls of Mandos, almost impossible for Elrond to reach him without getting too close to the darkness to ever return himself.

Elrond shot Gandalf an unmistakable look out of the corner of his eye, and the Istar understood. The wizard did the same as Elrond had done before, putting his hands on Legolas' chest and head. Together they started to chanted lowly in an ancient elvish accent Thranduil did not know. He only had eyes for Legolas anyway, praying to all Godheads he could think of for his little son to open his eyes.

"Come back, Legolas, little one, come back to the light, it is not your time yet to leave this world. Come back to the light. Do not wander into the darkness. Your Adar needs you here, come back, Legolas." Elrond and Gandalf chanted together in their mysterious language.

They continued their attempts for quite a long time, but it was futile. They could reach Legolas' spirit, only hardly though, but the elfling did not react to their calls. They began to feel the side effects of their procedures and it weakened them more than they wanted to admit. Finally they had to break up their efforts. They could not afford to overexert themselves too much. They would be of no use for Legolas if they did not save some strength now to try calling the elfling back again later, when they would have regained some of their strength. 

Elrond had to rip his own spirit away from Legolas almost violently, standing up. His hands trembled slightly for his work had cost him a lot of energy, and he swayed a bit, breathing heavily. Gandalf did fare a little better only. Even the Istar looked very exhausted and tired.

"Elrond?" Thranduil asked, his voice croaky with fear, his eyes searching his friend's gaze. Elrond laid his hand on Thranduil's good shoulder, his deep orbs full of the pain he felt in the other elf's heart. He took a deep breath.

"There is naught we can do more at the moment, mellon nin. We shall try again later, but to be honest… there is only little hope, I am so sorry. " He admitted sadly. And a flash of pure horror crossed over Thranduil's fair face. "He is beyond our reach and he must decide himself whether to come back to us or whether to leave to meet his naneth. Let us hope he will hang on long enough for us to reach out for him once again when we have regained some of our strength." Elrond explained, and Thranduil absentmindedly took his son's small hand in his own and pressed it against his chest, staring at nothing. 

Thranduil simply wanted to die.

"How could I fail him so?" He looked up into Elrond's grey stormy eyes and shook his head in despise of himself. "I should have protected him. And where was I? Lying on my bedroll, staring at the canopy, pitying myself!" He hissed angrily, clenched the sheet in his right fist and slammed his hand against the bedpost. "I cannot believe I did this to him! What father am I? What monster of a father am I?"

"Young one, there is no use in blaming yourself. I told you he was safe. And he was. Until this very morning. We would not have found him yesterday. He was safe." Gandalf explained, patting the despairing elf's back.

"Mellon nin, do not despair yet. It will be of no good for your son. You must save your own strength for Legolas' sake. Now, please, let me see to your wounds, Thranduil. You are injured." Elrond said gently, but Thranduil shook his head, gazing down on his little child.

They stood there for a while and neither of them spoke a word. Then Thranduil took a deep steadying breath and closed his eyes.

"Please, I wish to be alone with my son." He begged, whispering, his voice thick with tears. Gandalf and Elrond hesitated, then both nodded and left the room, carefully closing the door behind them.

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: 

Thranduil sat on the bed, holding his son, unmoving, staring down on Legolas' sweet face, gently stroking the elfling's good cheek with the backside of his knuckles. Night was drawing closer and the two candles on the bedside table and a small fire in the hearth on the opposite wall were the only sources of light in the room.

Thranduil did not know how long he had been sitting here, holding his son in his arms, hoping against hope he would awake. 

"Oh my little squirrel," he murmured and kissed Legolas' forehead once again. Feeling the cold of Legolas' skin one more time he could no longer fight back the tears and began to cry silently. He cradled Legolas closer, kissing his cheek. Silver tears rolled down his face and soundlessly fell down on the elfling's brow. 

"Please, forgive me, ion nin. Please, do not leave me, my beloved little squirrel. I did not want to hurt you ever. Please forgive me. My little squirrel, my little Greenleaf, come back to me," he whispered breathlessly, hugging Legolas' limp cold form even closer against his own body, soothingly rocking forth and back.

A piercing pain had tightened around his chest, cutting him short of air, as soon as he had heard Elrond say there was only little hope for Legolas. And it was stabbing him deeper and deeper with each minute that passed. What could he just do? He could not loose Legolas, too! He would not want to live if he did. He would never forgive himself. What had he just done? He had been so sick from his grief for his dead wife that he had not seen how much his son needed him, his father, all that was left of his family. Elrond and Mithrandir had taken care of Legolas right after his naneth had been killed, giving Thranduil as much time as possible to get over his terrible loss. But instead of using the time to face his pain and cope with the sickening darkness in his heart and overcome it he had withdrawn into himself, blocking everyone else and, well, almost his own self out, busying himself with the task of keeping his realm safe, fighting any enemy that might stir under his trees. And all the time he had pushed Legolas away, pushed away the painful memories that flared up in him whenever he looked at Legolas, and for that he hated and disgusted himself. 

What had he just been thinking? Legolas was a small elfling and had just lost his naneth! Was that not a thousand times worse than it was for him to lose his wife? He should have been there for his son, he should have given him as much love and comfort as possible, he should have make time for him whenever he came running to him, no matter what was going on elsewhere and no matter who was around. He should have spent as much time with him as possible, even when he had felt exhausted and tired. But, no, he had been too busy running away from his own pain, leaving his child struggling with his attempts to help and comfort his father, to be there for _him_, to please _him_. What had he just done to his son?

Had it not been his duty, his responsibility to look after Legolas? Not because common sense told him to, but because he loved him more than anything or anyone else in the world? What had he just done? What only had he been thinking? 

He had wanted to teach Legolas a lesson after he had run from the archery field to the palace unguarded, against better knowledge. But now, who had learnt the lesson? 

"Oh dear Námo, please, take from me whatever you desire, but do not take him! Take my life if you must, but do not take my son! He is meant to live, he is meant to be happy. Please…" He sobbed out leaning his wet cheek against the top of Legolas' head, gently pressing his son's face to his heart. And unconsciously he began to pour his own power of life into the small weak body of his beloved little elfling, murmuring his son's name endless times.

"Oh, Legolas, Legolas, my sweet little squirrel, please come back to me…"

:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

There was only darkness. He could not see and he was frightened because he did not know where he was. 

Just a moment ago there had been a cold white light flooding the path he was on and he had seen his Nana in some distant, smiling at him. He had wanted to run to her, he had missed her so much and he was so glad to see her, but no matter how hard or fast he ran, he did not seem to get any closer. 

But now she was not even there anymore. She had waved him a kiss, turned around and left, smiling one last time back over her shoulder, just exactly like she had always done it when she had gone on a trip and he had watched her leave being held on his Ada's arms as they waved to her goodbye from the great gate of his Ada's palace. 

And now that his Nana and the light were gone there was only darkness. He turned around, looking in all directions, trying to see anything, but there was nothing. He felt cold and lonely and started to shiver. He wanted to be home, he wanted to be with his Nana or with his Ada. He did not want to be alone anymore.

Then he heard his Ada's voice calling for him. 

He did not sound angry, much to Legolas' relief. But there was something strange in his Ada's voice, something he had not ever heard before in it. He sounded… sad! Awfully sad. - Was his Ada crying? No, it could not be. His Ada never cried. 

But there it was again, a muffled sob and his Ada's voice calling for him. Legolas' little heart quickened. His Ada was crying and needed his help! He tried to run but found himself unable to move and the darkness began closing in on him again.

Then, out of nothing a yellow-red light broke through the blackness and bathed the space around him in a comforting warm glow. There was nothing recognizable here, only the warm glooming air and yet Legolas felt strangely safe. He wanted to cry out for his Ada, but his voice failed him as did his legs.

The light grew stronger and warmer with each moment that passed, and his body started to lose its coldness and finally obeyed to his wishes. He still had no voice, but at least he could move his legs now and so he stumbled through the empty space into the direction his Ada's voice came from. He fell and for some reason he turned around to see if his Nana was really not there anymore. She was gone and so he struggled back on his feet, running forward. 

Again he could hear his father's faltering voice calling him and he took a deep steadying breath and hurried up, heading towards his Ada's voice and the source of the light that grew brighter and brighter as he got nearer and nearer and he had to close his eyes as it blinded him. His Ada called him again from short distance and he could feel his Ada's presence close to his own body. He took another deep breath. And then… Legolas opened his eyes.

:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

He blinked. Someone was holding him tight and a low voice murmured his name.

"Ada?" he whispered, and his voice was so weak it was almost inaudible. Thranduil started, abruptly pulling away from him, staring at him in disbelief, with wide wet eyes.

"Legolas!" He gasped. "You are back, you are here! You have not left me! You are here!" Thranduil sobbed out, tightly hugging Legolas again, overwhelmed by his emotions – he did not know what was stronger: his relief of seeing Legolas' big blue eyes open, his guilt for having caused the pain in those lovely orbs, his joy of having his son back or his fear it all would only be a dream. 

"Ada…" Legolas managed to whisper again, but it hurt him even to speak only that one word. His father pulled slightly away again to look him in the eyes and shook his head, frantically wiping away his tears with one hand.

"Oh my little squirrel, I am… I am so sorry, my sweet little squirrel, I am so sorry. Forgive me, ion nin, please, forgive me. I did not know what I was doing..." He rambled on. And even though Legolas did not understand what his Ada was talking about, he smiled weakly, nodded and touched his father's cheek with his cold tiny hand, leaning forward slightly. Thranduil knew this gesture only too well and gladly he bent his head down to kiss Legolas on the lips. He cradled his son back in his arms, pressing him tightly against his chest.

Legolas let out a shuddering sigh. There were so many questions he wanted to ask, so many things he wanted to tell his Ada, but he was so tired. He was only glad that his Ada obviously was not angry with him. He leant into his father's strong and warm embrace and even though he felt hungry and thirsty and his body hurt everywhere and he still did not know if his Ada really wanted him, he smiled slightly. 

Thranduil leaned back against the head of the bed, carefully pulling the blanket over Legolas and sighed, too. He felt incredible exhausted but right now he could not care less. He glimpsed down on Legolas' small face. The little elfling had fallen asleep again in his arms, with a shuddering breath escaping him before he had tucked his little thumb in his mouth to suck. He knew Legolas was still far from being safe back into the light, and he did not dare to stop pouring his own power of life into his son's small body. And so he proceeded giving what he possibly could until he fell asleep, too. 

…to be continued…


	11. Father and Son Chapter 11

**Disclaimer**: See chapter 1, please. :)

**Beta**: Not betaed yet, sorry.

**A/N**: Sorry for not updating sooner. Work has kept me busy the last week, so I couldn't revise this chapter sooner even though I have written most of it quite a long time ago.

In this chapter you will hear the story of Ñauyár and the Great Grey Wolves and the Helcausali (Watch out, Pegasus! ;) *gg*). Please note that this background stories are completely of my own invention and in no way Tolkien's work! I tried to suit this stuff to Tolkien's work/world as best as I could, but of course it was a rather difficult task and probably you won't like any of it. If so, I'm sorry! Please don't flame me if you don't like this. It's simply my fantasy drawing weird pictures in my head and I don't think anyone has the right to flame me for that. :) Thanks. Besides this stuff is only of secondary importance in this story (But will probably also be used for a sequel :)), so… ah, well, I think you get the message *lol*.

I'd like to dedicate this chapter to Sir Paul Simon, whose song "St. Judy's Comet" (so beautifully sung by the _New York Voices_) inspired me so much during writing this chapter. Though, you won't recognize the content of that song anywhere here, I think *lol*… Anyways, on with the story... :)

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

**Father and Son – Chapter 11**

Lord Elrond and Mithrandir sat down on a bench outside the entrance of the infirmary wing. Neither of them did speak for a while. Both of them were exhausted and needed some time to sort their own feelings and thoughts.

"Mithrandir, these birds…" Elrond started after a while and was stopped as the wizard patted his forearm.

"Birds, young one? No, not birds. Not really…" Mithrandir furrowed his brow. 

Elrond glanced at him, irritated. "What do you mean: not really?" 

Mithrandir was lost in a thought and did not answer. Elrond waited a moment before he elbowed the wizard gently to get his attention.

"Mhm? Oh, yes, the _birds_… Elrond, Legolas' wounds looked weird to you, did they not?" 

"Yes, they had a strange blue edge and the skin around them was ice cold to the touch. I expected them to be hot, maybe infected even, but they were so cold and they were… they looked like… like… "

"Frozen." Mithrandir completed. The wizard's eyes were filled with such gloom it send Elrond a cold shiver down his spine.

"Yes, exactly. Mithrandir, what is going on here?"

"I am not entirely sure. Not yet."

"But you have an assumption?"

"Yes, I have." He said and rose.

"Mithrandir, tell me about it." Elrond demanded, standing up as well.

"I would not bother you with unco…" The Istar trailed off as he saw Lord Bellbeor approaching them with great haste, a worried look on his face, a bundle of dispatches in his right hand.

"Welcome back, my Lords," the advisor greeted them and bowed and pierced Elrond with a panic-stricken look. "Lord Elrond, how does the prince fare? One of the warriors told me he heard you saying he is fading?" 

"Indeed, his spirit is far away. I fear too far away for us to reach. He did not react to our calls. We shall try again later, but it is a difficult task since neither Mithrandir nor I are well-rested at the moment. We need to regain some of our strength first. To be honest, there is not much we can do for him at the moment." 

"These are ill news, really ill news. How does the king cope with all this?" Bellbeor's face was pale. He cared deeply for his prince and his king. The thought of losing Legolas was unbearable to him, not only because he held the elfling so dear, but because he knew Thranduil would not live should he lose his only child. Mirkwood would lose her prince _and_ her king. The wood-elves would lose their royal family. His heart wrenched awfully at the thought. 

"He is with Legolas at the moment. He wanted to be alone with his son." Elrond mused for a moment. "I fear he would not survive another loss." His sad orbs searched the other elf's face for a reaction.

Lord Bellbeor blinked away a tear and nodded ever so slightly. It was as he had feared. But he had to be strong now. He could not give up. Thranduil relied on him to take care of all matters of the realm as long as he was unable to do that himself, and he would not fail his king. Not as long as there was still hope. He knew Thranduil and Legolas would need time for each other should they ever get through this after all, and it was his responsibility to spare Thranduil as much work and sorrow as possible, now and also later. He took a deep steadying breath and glanced at Mithrandir.

"Mithrandir, I have been informed about everything that happened in the forest. Pardon my rudeness, but I would like to talk to you immediately about some things the Northern Border Patrol and the Home Patrol have reported to us." He held the paper rolls up to the wizard.

Mithrandir nodded and turned his head to look at Elrond.

"I think, you should go and look after Legolas and Thranduil now. We will talk later, young one." He patted Elrond's shoulder one last time and followed Lord Bellbeor to the conference room.

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

Stealthily Elrond entered the healing room. The first thing he noticed was that Legolas was sucking his thumb, and instantly hope swapped through him at the mere sight. He knew the elfling could not do that if his spirit was still as far away as it had been earlier. The elfling's face was not so pale anymore, either. Things looked definitely better than when he had left father and son earlier.

Cautiously he moved closer to the bed and reached out his hand to feel Legolas' forehead. His skin was still somewhat cold but Elrond could feel the child's spirit was close. He let out a relieved sigh and looked at Thranduil. The elder elf was asleep, and even though his eyes were closed, Elrond thought it was good that he slept. It was not an unexpected thing that Thranduil was so distressed he had to sleep with his eyes closed. Not after what he obviously must have done to call Legolas back.

The healer stroke Legolas' golden hair affectionately one last time before he turned to fill the bowl on the bedside table with fresh hot water. He crutched fresh Athleas in the bowl and for some reason he felt the urge to look at Thranduil again. He turned his head, but everything seemed to be well. He returned his attention to the Athleas. And yet there was something disturbing about the looks of his friend. It was not the closed eyes, but what was it? He looked again but still could not make out what disturbed him so. Instinctively he reached out and searched the king's wrist for a pulse. Thranduil's heartbeat was slow but regular and fairly strong. Elrond's gaze roamed over the other elf's body. His chest rose and fell in a steady rhythm, his skin looked slightly paler than usual but that was not a surprising thing after what he had been through. His violet mouth was slightly ajar and… _Violet?_Elrond hastily touched the other elf's lips. They were cold. He checked his forehead and found it rather cold, too, and he felt Thranduil's spirit was drifting away. 

Frantically the healer shook the king's shoulder.

"Thranduil!" He cried, trying to wake the other elf. "Thranduil, wake up. Stop this, Thranduil! Wake up!" 

Thranduil's eyes flew open and he sat bolt upright in the bed. 

"What is it?" He gasped in shock and hastily looked down on the elfling in his arms. "Is something wrong with Legolas?" 

Elrond let out a breath he did not know he had held and pushed the king back into the pillows.

"No. Calm down, calm down. He is fine." The healer sank down on the edge of the bed, his exhaustion finally catching up with him. _These royals will be my death_,he thought, trying to slow his racing heart, leaning heavily on one arm.

"You scared me halfway to the Halls of Mandos!" Thranduil accused, still staring down on Legolas, who moaned lowly in his slumber.

"Oh, really?" Elrond raised an eyebrow. "You know, you were halfway down there anyway without me doing anything! You were pouring all your power into Legolas, keeping nothing of it for yourself. What were you thinking?! You scared me halfway to death, too!" He scowled at him.

"I-I… Legolas… I talked to him and rocked him and suddenly he was awake. He was awake! After a brief moment he fell asleep again, and I did not dare to stop giving some of my strength to him. He was so weak. He could not even talk. I was afraid he could drift back into the darkness, so… and then I fell asleep. I did not…"

"I see, I see." Elrond gestured him to stop talking and pinched the bridge of his nose, fighting back the ache that began to pound in his head.

"Elrond, are you well?" Thranduil asked, gently grasping the healer's arm.

"Yes, I am fine. I am just tired, that's all." Elrond answered and looked up, straight into Thranduil's grey-blue orbs.

"What about Legolas? Do you think he is safely back? Will he pull through?" Hope flickered in the king's depths, and Elrond smiled.

"Yes, I think so." He patted Thranduil's hand on his arm reassuringly. 

But although he had no doubt that Legolas' body would heal and that he would live he was worried about the effects all this could have on Legolas' young and innocent soul. He had been through too much recently.

"What is it, mellon nin? Please, tell me," the king pleaded, whispering.

"Well, I am rather worried about Legolas' mental health to be honest with you. He is so young and he has been through so much, I do not know how he will cope with all that." 

"He is stronger than you think." Came a grumpy voice from the door. Mithrandir had entered the room without either of the elves noticing it. Slowly he strode towards the bed, his staff touching the marble floor with a low *clack* every second step.

"My friends, I will leave you on the morrow. I must go northwards and, well, let's say, investigate. I will return to you as soon as I can though," the wizard explained and squeezed Thranduil's good shoulder.

"Mithrandir, what bothers you so? I can see a worry in your eyes I have not often seen there before." The king eyed him carefully.

"Ah, young one, it seems some evil creatures from ancient times have returned to these lands. One of your patrols reports of finding a dead pack of grey wolves alongside a few dead birds ten miles from where Legolas must have come across 'his' wolves. Probably the she-wolf Legolas told us about was the only one that had survived the attack and has fled further towards here. Your Northern Border Patrol sends word about a similar find, they have discovered a dead pack of grey wolves, some of them apparently mothers but the cubs were nowhere to be found. Dead birds lay with them, too." 

"That sounds weird, indeed." Thranduil commented, musing.

"I will go and examine the beasts and the complete area myself. But considering the details of the reports it is as I fear, the Helcausali have returned. If we do not stop them soon, your people will not only have to fight the shadow, Thranduil. The forest and its creatures will be thrown into unnatural imbalance and you know where that could lead to. I also fear an arctic cold could fall upon these woods should we not defeat the Helcausali soon and keep them from breeding." 

Thranduil and Elrond traded questioning looks. 

"What or who are these Helcausali?" Thranduil asked.

"That is a rather long story." Mithrandir hushed him. He wanted to go to bed now and take off at first light the next day.

"We are rather inclined to hear it." Thranduil replied, and his stern glance showed he would not allow negation.

"Very well then," the wizard replied and sat down on a nearby chair. "Once, the Helcausali were cold-blooded beasts of similar shape as wolves. They were one of the first beings created by Melkor1 with whom they dwelt in the Northern Waste2 for a short time. He quickly lost interest in them and left them behind as he went to build Angband3. The beasts lived on the blood and flesh of warm-blooded beings and without guidance from Melkor they soon got out of control and eliminated all such creatures in their living area even if unnecessary. Then hunger drove them to the east of the Northern Waste first and later southwards."

"Into the Grey Mountains4?" Thranduil interrupted and Mithrandir nodded. 

"Yes. There they attacked the Great Grey Wolves5, who lived on the northern side of the mountains at that time and were led and protected by Ñauyár6, a less powerful and mostly unknown Maia7. Only a few wolves were killed thanks to Ñauyár. However, his power was not strong enough to kill them so he could only transform them into incorporeal beings surrounded by an icy cold fitting the coldness of their blood and hearts – hence they were called the Helcausali. Due to being Melkor's creation the Helcausali possessed enough power to adapt Ñauyár's spell, so they could adopt the shape of birds at least for a brief time around dawn. They swore vengeance and attacked the wolves anew, stealing some of their cubs since those were easier prey. Through that they learnt they could strengthen and prolong their bird-shaped state when fed with the blood and flesh of wolves. When Ñauyár realized what was going on, he scared the Helcausali away with a weird bright light when they attacked again to steal the remaining cubs. After that he led the wolves over the mountains, assuming the Helcausali to be unable to follow them into the warmer regions on the other side." 

"Well, apparently he was wrong." Elrond interjected, rubbing his chin thoughtfully.

"Do we know that for certain? No one had ever heard of them again after that, so we all thought they were destroyed or had fled so far into the North their existence would not matter to anyone anyway. They had not pursued Ñauyár and the wolves. This I know for sure. Believing, his wolves were safe, Ñauyár returned to Almaren8, where his spirit was destroyed when Melkor threw down the Lamps of the Valar9 and Almaren crumbled to dust." The wizard looked strangely sad at that moment and the two elves wondered if the Istar had maybe been friends with Ñauyár.

"But how did these Helcausali get this far into Mirkwood if they could not even follow the wolves to the other side of the Grey Mountains? These mountains are many, many miles away from here."  Thranduil asked after a moment of silence and furrowed his brow once more. 

"This I know not. To be honest, I thought they were long gone. I have not heard anything about them for such a long time I had completely forgotten about their existence until this morning. I shall go to the North and do some research. Maybe their return is just another effect of the presence of the Necromancer10. He seems to possess great power over all kind of evil creatures." The wizard's anger was evident in his eyes.

Thranduil nodded, and again he and Elrond exchanged looks.

"So, these beasts attacked Legolas because he had taken the cub?" Elrond asked, still a little bit confused.

"Yes. I assume after killing the larger part of the pack, they pursued the remaining wolves and attacked them in the hours of morning, which is the time when they are strongest. And I guess Legolas tried to save them."

"Ai Elbereth!" Thranduil gasped, glancing down on his child. He looked so small and weak and vulnerable lying there and yet he had been so brave and strong in his attempts to save the wolves.

"The Valar must be very fond of him." Mithrandir commented and rose again, leaning heavily on his staff. This went not unnoticed by Elrond, who felt rather tired himself.

"I think we all should rest now." He suggested and the other two nodded approvingly. 

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

It was early in the morning as Lord Elrond made his way from the kitchen to Thranduil's bedroom, where they had brought Legolas three days ago after Mithrandir had left to investigate the disturbing events in the northern parts of Mirkwood. 

Time had gone by rather eventless in the palace. Legolas had woken again for several times, but hardly responded to the persons or things around him. His wounds were almost completely healed now thanks to his Elvish healing abilities and yet he was still too weak to stay awake for more than two or three hours in a row. And both Thranduil and Elrond were worried. Most of all because Legolas refused to eat. No matter what they offered him he wouldn't eat.

Last evening Elrond had instructed the cook to make a special banana-mash for Legolas. He had to eat something, and the healer hoped the prince would like the mash as much as his own children had liked it when they were small. He remembered Elladan, the older of his twins, being particular fond of it when he had lost his two front teeth in a fight with an elder elfling. Elrond smiled at the memory of his small son grinning brilliantly up at him, almost proudly displaying the gap between his two small canine teeth. _Children!_ he thought amused.

Smiling and humming to himself Elrond strode on down the corridor to Thranduil's chamber, carrying the tray with a bowl of the mush and a mug of hot milk. He did not knock at the door, just in case Legolas or Thranduil were still asleep. He opened the door slightly and peeked inside the room where he saw a half-dressed Thranduil standing in front of his closet. The king quietly put on a fresh undershirt and tunic, occasionally glancing back over his shoulder to make sure he had not woken Legolas who lay curled up in the large bed, sucking on his right thumb, a new cuddle cloth tightly clutched in his small right fist.

Soundlessly Elrond entered the room, nodding his greetings to Thranduil, who smiled at him gratefully. Tightening the belt around his waist the king went over to the table where Elrond had put down the tray.

"He had nightmares again tonight," he informed Elrond, whispering and turned his head in Legolas' direction. Elrond looked over to the bed and could see the dark circles under Legolas' closed eyes. The elfling's father did not look much better, either.

"Mellon nin, did you get any sleep at all tonight?" he whispered back.

"No, not really." 

"You must get some rest, Thranduil. You look terrible."

"I know. But I cannot leave him alone during night. Not as long as he is so weak."

"You haven't slept properly for nights now. I could stay with him for a night, if you want?" Elrond offered. Thranduil was evidently reluctant, and the healer knew instantly he would never agree. In some ways he understood why the king did not want it. He surely felt there was a lot he had to make up for. 

Thranduil shook his head almost imperceptibly. "No, but I would be most thankful if you could look after him for a while this afternoon. Míriel will not be back until next week and my counsellors wish to talk to me about some matters of the realm. It will not be long, maximum two hours. I loathe leaving Legolas, but I feel I cannot neglect the kingdom in such a way any longer. And I do not think Legolas is well enough yet to come with me. Besides I do not want him to hear all the ill news my advisors surely have for me." He smiled and rolled his eyes in an almost light-hearted manner, but Elrond knew it was faked. His friend was tired and worried anyway and now the issues of his kingdom were catching up with him once again. He felt sorry for Thranduil.

"It is all right, mellon nin. I will stay with him," he agreed, without hesitation.

"Thank you, mellon nin." Thranduil squeezed his shoulder.

"You are most welcome. I will leave the two of you alone now. I have brought some mush for Legolas. You must see to it that he eats it, Thranduil. He must eat something very soon." Elrond shot Thranduil a serious look and the king nodded.

"I know, I will try to make him eat it, but he always tends not to eat when he doesn't feel well." 

Elrond smiled at the other elf sympathetically. He knew how difficult it could be to convince children to eat if they did not want to. While his twins hardly denied a meal, no matter how bad they felt, Arwen had often reacted in a way similar to Legolas' when something disturbed her deeply. Elrond sighed knowingly. Glancing one last time over his shoulder at the still sleeping elfling, he opened the door and left the king's room.

Thranduil sat down in a chair nearby the bed and watched his son sleep. He looked so small, so sweet and Thranduil felt a warm wave of affection swapping through his heart. The steady rise and fall of Legolas' chest was such a calming sight Thranduil soon drifted into a light slumber himself.

He started as he felt something or someone touching his knee. He looked down and straight into Legolas' big blue sad orbs staring up at him. Standing barefoot before him, he still had his cuddle cloth clutched tightly in his hand and pressed it against his small mouth, chewing on one corner of it.

"Good morning, ion nin. How do you feel today?" Thranduil smiled and wrapped his large hands around Legolas' small waist and lifted him on his lap. Legolas did not react, no nodding, no shaking of his head, no "yes", no "no", simply nothing, he only sat there, staring at his father.

"Would you like to have breakfast now? You must be very hungry, ion nin, don't you?" He continued, but the elfling just shook his head ever so slightly, dropping his gaze, looking down on nothing in particular.

"Are you sure? You will feel better if you eat. You must eat something, ion nin." Thranduil admonished softly but again Legolas did not react, just stared down on his father's belt, pressing his cuddle cloth against his mouth.

"Well then, what about some warm milk?" No reaction. "Or tea?" No reaction.

He was at loss. At least the child had drunk his milk in the mornings and some tea throughout the day in the last few days.

"My little squirrel, what is wrong with you? Are you still tired or is anything hurting you or do you feel sick?" Gently he took the small chin in one hand and turned his son's face up, forcing Legolas to look at him. "You can tell me everything, my little squirrel. What is it?"

"They've eaten my pony," Legolas informed him, with a small voice, sighing heavily and rubbing one tired eye with his free hand.

"Who?" Thranduil asked, slightly irritated.

"The birds, they have eaten Éli." Legolas went on and started to shiver.

"It was just a dream, my little squirrel, just a bad dream. Your pony is fine." He pulled the child in a tight embrace and carefully rubbed soothing circles in the elfling's back.

"Really, Ada?" Legolas murmured in his tunic.

"Really. If you want we can go to the stables and look after Éli, but only if you drink your milk first, agreed?" Legolas nodded somewhat eagerly and Thranduil rose with the elfling on his arm. He went over to the table where he took the mug of milk. He returned to the chair and sat down again. Legolas turned around on his lap, more clumsily than usual, and tried to hold the big mug, but it was too heavy for him in his weakened state. He leant back against Thranduil's chest and sighed in frustration. 

"Here, I help you…" His father soothed him gently and held the bottom of the mug while Legolas grabbed it with both hands and drank thirstily. As soon as the mug was empty he started to squirm on Thranduil's lap and slid down his father's legs to the floor.

"Not so fast, little squirrel," the king laughed and picked him up. "We have to wash you first and dress you and maybe comb and braid your hair, what do you think? You would not want to look like a little tousle-head when we go and visit Éli, now, would you?" He winked and smiled at him and Legolas shook his head. He knew it was impolite to look like a tousle-head when he visited someone, especially for a prince. And Thranduil simply wanted Legolas to be back to normal. And what would be better than trying to start a normal daily routine again?

Thranduil carried Legolas to the bathroom, took a thick towel and put on the broad edge of the marble basin and sat Legolas down on it. He helped his son to take off his nightshirt and gently washed his face, neck, arms and chest with a wet warm towel, carefully avoiding the almost healed wounds on his arms. He wrapped him up in another towel to keep him warm while he carefully combed his golden hair and braided it in the fashion of his warriors. He knew Legolas would not want it any other way and he wanted the elfling to feel as good as possible. Done, he carried him back to the bedchamber and stood, contemplating what to do next. 

"We've to go to my room for clothes," Legolas murmured against his neck, tiredly leaning his head on Thranduil's strong shoulder and yet fully aware of the issue at hand. The king turned on his heel to leave the room.

"Ada…" Legolas said weakly but did not say anything further. He did not want to be a baby. Thranduil glimpsed down on his son's small face curiously and noticed the child's longing look to the chair they had sat on earlier. 

_Your cuddle cloth, of course,_ Thranduil thought, smiling, and went over to pick it up. Then they left the room and entered Legolas' chamber only two doors down, where he helped the elfling dress. He was about to take him on his arms again, but Legolas shook his head and took one large hand in his own instead. He wanted to be on his own two feet.

His cuddle cloth tightly clutched in one hand, Ada's hand in the other, Legolas slowly padded down the corridor, heading for the main entrance. They had not even reached the great wooden door as Legolas' stumbled, clearly too weak to walk on. Wordlessly Thranduil pulled him up, took him on his arm again and went on. Legolas did not protest and slung his tiny arms around his father's neck.

They passed the sentries at the door and strode down to the stables, where they were greeted by the stable master, the head groom and Labahû. Thranduil put Legolas back down on the ground, allowing him to greet the dog, who first snuffled Legolas' legs, hands and face and then licked him across one cheek. With a faint smile on his lips Legolas stroke the dog's head and unsteadily padded on to the entrance of the main stable. 

Thank the Valar, his pony was in one of the first boxes in the left row, so he had not to go too far. The king followed his son and opened the stall door for him so he could go in. Éli bent his head down and snorted as he recognized Legolas. The elfling hugged his leg tightly.

"Hello Éli," he whispered softly and murmured something inaudible into the pony's coat. The brown beast snorted again as if laughing at something and tugged on Legolas' tunic with his mouth to pull him away from his leg. Legolas stepped backwards a few feet and stroked the pony's head as he bent it further down and gently rubbed his forehead against Legolas' small shoulder. The elfling swayed a little and Thranduil rushed inside the box to catch his son before he could fall. The pony whinnied apologetically and the king patted his neck.

"Not your fault," he explained reassuringly and lifted Legolas up on his arms again. "Time to go back to bed, I think, my little squirrel." He left the stable, ready to go back to the palace but was stopped as a large hand grabbed his shoulder from behind.

"My Lord, I think I have something the prince would like to see," the head groom said and pointed off to the small hut next to the stables. Thranduil glimpsed down on Legolas, who eyed the other elf with great interest. He nodded and followed the groom into the hut. They were instantly under attack of a wolf cub jumping up and down at Thranduil's feet, whimpering joyfully.

Legolas face lit up a little and he struggled on his father's arms to be put down again, looking somewhat happy for the first time since his return. Thranduil and the head groom exchanged knowing smiles. He let Legolas cuddle and play with the wolf cub for a few minutes, while he and the head groom briefly argued the necessity to build a new barn. The heavy eye lids and the clumsier and clumsier movements of his son soon alerted him that the elfling was so exhausted that he really should be brought to bed again now. 

Reluctantly he took Legolas on his arms, thanked the head groom and left the hut, heading back towards the palace. Legolas fell asleep even before they reached the main entrance.

Avoiding any abrupt motions in order not to wake the little elfling Thranduil slowly made his way back to his chamber, where he laid Legolas down on his bed. Carefully he removed the small cloak and the tiny soft boots and covered his son with a thick, warm blanket. Tucking the lower corners of the blankets in, he was startled as he felt a small hand touching his cheek. He looked up and saw Legolas blinking down on him.

"Oh, ion nin, I am sorry, I did not want to wake you," he apologized, but Legolas only stared down on him, fear written all over his face.

"What is it, ion nin, what's wrong?" Thranduil felt panic flaring up inside of himself.

"Ada…" Legolas started, but then he sighed and let his hand fall limply back down on the mattress, dropping his gaze. There were so many questions he wanted to ask, but he was so afraid of the answers. What if his Ada said he should go away again? He did not want to go away again. He wanted to stay with his Ada. Tightly he cradled the cuddle cloth against his hurting chest.

"Legolas, talk to me, please. You know you can tell me everything," Thranduil urged him with a soft, low voice. He sat down on the bed and leant over Legolas, smiling reassuringly.

"Ada, is Nana…" Legolas trailed off again, blinking several times. He didn't want to cry in front of his Ada, but he was so sad when he thought of his Nana.

"Ion nin?" Thranduil pulled him on his lap so he sat sideways on his legs. Legolas leant his small head wearily against his father's chest, and Thranduil anticipated what his son would ask him. But Legolas did not say a word.

"What is it, tell me, ion nin. You can really tell and ask me everything," he urged again, and his soft soothing voice sent Legolas' over the edge. The elfling started to cry.

"Oh, Legolas, please, talk to me. I cannot help you if you don't tell me what's wrong." Thranduil begged, holding Legolas even tighter now.

"Nana was there and I wanted to run to her but she went away and I don't know why. Ada, is she angry with me?" Legolas finally sobbed out, and Thranduil suddenly felt tears stinging in his own eyes. 

"Where did you see her?" he managed to ask.

"In the dark room. I wanted to run to her but she went away and it was so dark… Doesn't Nana love me anymore? Why did she go away?" Legolas trembled helplessly in his father's arms.

"Oh, my little squirrel, of course she loves you. She loves you so much. She had to go away because she lives somewhere else now and she knows you cannot go there with her because it's not a place for elflings to be. She… she knew I would come and get you and she wanted you to stay with me. Would you have preferred to go with her?" Thranduil asked, trying to keep his voice as neutral as possible, while his heart was racing in his chest, fearing the answer could be yes.

"No! No, I want to be with you, Ada," Legolas confessed hastily. Thranduil squeezed him reassuringly and let out a breath he did not know he had held.

"But I miss Nana," the elfling confided and turned his tearful eyes up to look in his father's face.

"I know, ion nin, and I miss her, too. But, you know, even though we cannot see her, she is always with us. When you think of her, she thinks of you, too. And when you miss her, she misses you, too. And when you tell her, that you love her, she tells you that she loves you, too, even though you cannot hear her. She loves you so much." He slowly rocked forth and back, comforting his child and himself. Legolas relaxed a little bit, but the tears did not cease.

"Are you very angry with me, Ada?" He anxiously asked after a while and cautiously looked up again. His heart was racing in his chest, fearing the answer could be yes.

"No, no, I'm not angry with you at all. No! Do I look angry to you?" Thranduil asked, stroking his son's head soothingly. Legolas shook his head, letting out a breath he did not know he had held.

"Why do you think I am angry with you, then?" Thranduil wanted to know.

"'Cause I'm here and you said I should go away," Legolas explained sadly. Thranduil's heart wrenched awfully. 

"Oh, Legolas, my little squirrel, I did not know what I was saying. I-…I was sick. I'm so sorry. I did not mean it, ion nin, you must believe me. I never wanted you to go away, never. I am so glad that you are home again." He pressed him firmly against his chest and kissed Legolas' forehead. But still the elfling did not stop crying.

"Ada, I can't be your warrior, I'm sorry. I-… I can't shoot. I couldn't shoot the birds and they killed the wolf nana and the two babies and I… I was so scared. I'm sorry. Ada, please don't be angry with me, that I can't be your warrior…" he rambled on, his voice faltering.   
  


"Oh Legolas, my little Greenleaf…" Thranduil hugged him even tighter if possible. He could not speak. He was choked with suppressed tears. It took all his strength not to cry. He could not cry now, Legolas would only think he cried because of the news that he could not be his warrior yet. He swallowed several times, until the lump in his throat was more or less gone.

"My little squirrel, you don't have to be my warrior yet," he explained gently. "You are an elfling, and no elfling has to be a warrior. And it is all right that you couldn't shoot the birds. You can shoot so well already for one so small, really, I am very proud of you. Did you not know that? You will get lessons soon and learn all the things you need to know to become a warrior when you are grown up. You don't have to be my warrior yet, my little squirrel. Do you understand that?"

"B-But I promised you to help…" Legolas twisted his head to glance up at him again, and Thranduil smiled down on him and kissed his son's tears away.

"You help me, when you are happy, when you play with your friends or with Labahû or with Míriel, when you do all the things that make you happy. You help me when you laugh." He leant his cheek against Legolas' forehead and inhaled deeply. Legolas' hair still smelled like his naneth's hair, but strangely it didn't hurt anymore to smell it. And it did not make Thranduil angry anymore, either. In a strange way it was comforting, just as the warmth of his son's small body pressed against his own.

"You must promise me one thing, my little squirrel. Never run away again, never, do you hear me?" He pulled away again to look Legolas straight in the eyes, and Legolas nodded, his blue orbs locking with Thranduil's grey-blue depths. "You must promise me, that, no matter what I say or do, you will never leave me like that again. Adults can be stupid sometimes, Legolas, and I am no better. Sometimes I am stupid, too. Sometimes we adults say things we don't mean because we're afraid of what others could think of us. You must believe me that I never want you to go away ever. I want you to be close to me all the time. I know I had not enough time for you because I was so busy with work, but I will make sure that I will have more time for you from now on, I promise you that. Please, forgive me for being so mean to you and for hurting you in my study. I didn't want to, I'm so sorry." Legolas nodded eagerly, sniffing.

"Were you sad, Ada?" the elfling whispered after another moment of silence, curiously studying his father's face.

"When you went away? Yes, I was sad, very sad. I was so afraid that I would never see you again. I was afraid that I had lost you," Thranduil confided, stroking down a stray strand of Legolas hair, tugging it behind his small pointed ear. Legolas leant his cheek into the palm of his father's strong large hand, gently grasping the wrist to hold the hand in place.

"I was afraid, too," he said, then mused for a moment, fumbling with Thranduil's sleeve, staring tiredly at nothing. "Ada, I missed you when I was in the forest." 

"I missed you, too, my little squirrel. I missed you really badly." He glimpsed down on Legolas' face and for the first time since his return he saw a vague happiness sparkling in his son's lovely eyes. "You are so precious to me, my little squirrel. You mean everything to me, did you not know that?" Legolas looked up at him, somewhat surprised, a small smile on his face. Thranduil was overwhelmed by the warmth and love that instantly flooded his heart when he looked in his son's sparkling eyes. He took the small head in both hands and leant his forehead against Legolas'.

"I love you so much, Legolas, you cannot imagine, how much I love you," he said, and it felt as if someone had lifted a grey veil from his soul, as if someone had cut the chains around his heart, as if someone had drawn the curtains and let the sunshine flood his whole being. He could breathe, finally, really breathe. Breathe like he hadn't breathed for a long, long time. He was free. Finally free again.

"I love you, too, Ada," the elfling in his arms murmured with a relieved smile on his face and fell asleep in his father's warm embrace.

"I am so lucky to have you, my little squirrel," Thranduil whispered in the elfling's hair and kissed the top of his head. And then he finally allowed the tears from the deepest bottom of his heart to roll down his face.

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

Additional A/N:

Helcausali is a name I created out of Quenya (Considering that it's older than Sindarin and the Helcausali are ancient creatures…)

"Helca" = icy / icecold

"Ausa" = a dim shape, spectral or vague apparition

"li" = plural ending in Quenya (at least that's what my dictionary told me…)

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

Since English is not my first language and I surely would mess up all these explanations, I simply quote from The Encyclopedia of Arda for the most parts, except of course for things of my own invention. Hope, you don't mind! :)

1 – Melkor: One if not the most powerful Ainur, his name means "who arises with might", better known as Morgoth, the first true Dark Lord. He "was of the same order of the Valar and equal in power […]. While the Valar descended into Arda to order and govern wisely, though, Melkor sought power for himself alone, and sought to bend all things to his own will. All that the Valar made, Melkor looked to destroy; […] he threw down the Lamps of the Valar, destroying their dwelling in Almaren. They removed to Valinor, and fearing for the coming Elves, made war on Melkor and imprisoned him for three ages. By the time he was released, the Elves had come to Valinor; Melkor turned back to his evil ways; slaying Finwë and stealing the Silmarils, he destroyed the Two Trees of Valinor and fled back to his ancient fortress of Angband in the north of Middle Earth." (The Encyclopedia of Arda)

2 – Northern Waste: The northern region of Middle Earth, behind the Grey and the Iron Mountains. Comparable to this day's Arctic, I think.

3 – Angband: "Angband was a mighty fortified citadel originally constructed by Melkor in the earliest days of the world as an outlying fortress to his northern stronghold of Utumno. Utumno was destroyed by the Valar, and Melkor imprisoned in Valinor for three ages, but on his return to Middle-earth, he took Angband as the seat of his power, and raised the towers of Thangorodrim above its gates. Angband was beseiged by the Noldor during the early part of the First Age, but the Siege of Angband was broken at the Dagor Bragollach. It was finally destroyed by the forces of the Valar at the end of the First Age, in the War of the Wrath." (The Encyclopedia if Arda) 

4 – Grey Mountains: "A northern range of Middle Earth, running west to east and forming the likely northern border of the region of Rhovanion. They were long mined by the Dwarves, who were driven from them in the late Third Age by Cold-drakes from the north, and were later colonised by Orcs." (The Encyclopedia of Arda) 

5 – Great Grey Wolves: Tall wolves with grey coat, forefathers of a branch of the smaller grey wolves, who lived in the northern area of Mirkwood. The great animals dwelt at the Northern side of the Grey Mountains with Ñauyár, who later led them over the mountains to the southern side of it after an attack from the Helcausali.

6 – Ñauyár: One of the less powerful Ainur, a Maia. His name means "Wolfblood" (Quenya "ñau" standing for wolf like in "ñaule" = wolf-howl or ñauro = werewolf / "yár" = blood). He led and protected the Great Grey Wolves and could take on their shape if he wanted to. Together they dwelt in the Grey Mountains at the border of the Northern Waste. He transformed ice beasts created by Melkor into the Helcausali after they had attacked his wolves. When they attacked again he scared them away with a weird bright light. After that he led his wolves to the southern side of the mountains and left them behind as he returned to Almaren. His spirit was destroyed alongside the dwelling when Melkor threw down the Lamps of the Valar. It is believed that his weird light can still be seen at the arctic sky from time to time, though.

7 – Maia (sgl) / Maiar (pl): The less powerful Ainur. "Of the many spirits that descended into Arda at its beginning, those of lesser stature than the Valar, though they were still powerful, were known as Maiar. […] In the Third Age, there were still Maiar in physical form to be found in Middle-earth. The most important of these were Saruman, Sauron (originally also of Aul's people), and Olórin, known as Gandalf, who belonged to the people of Manwë and Varda." (The Encyclopedia of Arda) 

_(Ainur: Meaning "the holy ones", "The primordial spirits, who existed with Ilúvatar, and with Him created the world through the __Music of the Ainur__. After the creation of Arda, many of the Ainur descended into it to guide and order its growth; of these there were fifteen more powerful than the rest. Fourteen of these great Ainur became the __Valar__, or __Powers of Arda__. The fifteenth, __Melkor__, turned aside from that path and became the first __Dark Lord__. The many lesser Ainur that accompanied the Valar into Arda are known as __Maiar__." (The Encyclopedia of Arda))_

8 – Almaren: "Before the time of the Two Trees of Valinor, and even before the Valar came to Valinor, they dwelt on the green island of Almaren in the Great Lake. In the mists of time, long before the awakening of Elves or Men, the Valar dwelt east of the Sea in Middle-earth. This was a time called the Spring of Arda, when the Earth was lit by the two Lamps of the Valar, and Almaren lay in the central regions of the World, where the light of the two Lamps mingled. […] Of much greater importance, though, is the fact that Almaren was the site of the Valar's first major defeat at the hands of Melkor: he loosed his forces secretly from his northern fortress of Utumno (then newly delved). Both the Lamps of the Valar were thrown down and destroyed, and Almaren lay in ruins. […] After this, the Valar left Middle-earth and seldom returned. They founded a new land far away to the west, in Aman, that they called Valinor; a land lit by the fabled light of the Two Trees." (The Encyclopedia of Arda)

9 – Lamps of the Valar: "Illuin and Ormal, the two great lamps made by Aulë to give light to the World in the ancient days when the Valar still dwelt in Almaren. They were overthrown and destroyed by Melkor." (The Encyclopedia of Arda)  


10 – Necromancer: "The evil being who dwelt at Dol Guldur in the heart of Mirkwood; originally thought by the Wise to be one of the Nazgûl, Gandalf later discovered that the Necromancer was Sauron himself. A 'necromancer' is technically a magician with power over the spirits of the dead, but Tolkien almost certainly intends the more general sense of 'black magician'." (The Encyclopedia of Arda)  



End file.
